Agronomy
Crop Nutrition
Optimising crop yield and quality whilst managing finances and considering the environment is the scenario facing producers, and it emphasises the need for careful nutrient management and planning.
Increasing understanding around fertiliser use and uptake by plants is a continuing area of work. As is the exploration of potential savings and looking at how to make best use of new technology and nutrient sources.
Nutrient Management Guide RB 209: latest edition released May 2017:
The Nutrient Management Guide (RB209) provides guidelines for crop nutrient requirements and the nutrient content of organic materials. It is published as seven sections:
Section 1 Principles of nutrient management and fertiliser use
Section 2 Organic materials
Section 3 Grass and forage crops
Section 4 Arable crops
Section 5 Potatoes
Section 6 Vegetables and bulbs
Section 7 Fruit, vines and hops
Find out more, including downloadable PDFs and video content, on the main AHDB website
Latest technical information and tools
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Nutrient Management Guide RB 209: latest edition released May 2017, updated inforation for section 5 (potatoes) includes the addition of new varieties to potato determinacy groupings, plus the recommendation to apply sulphur where there is a risk of deficiency.
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Potatoes Fertiliser Calculator – Web-tool to calculate nutrient requirements and the supply of crop available nutrients from organic materials. Please note that the recommendations in tool are based on the RB209 8th Edition (2010).
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Strategic Potato Farm resource - AHDB Potatoes best practice demonstration farms where research is being put into practice on a commercial scale
AHDB Potatoes crop nutrition research projects
- Live: 11140023 AHDB Rotations Research Partnership
- Live: 115R481 PhD Micronutrient Fortification
- Completed: R451 Phosphorus Use (LINK)
- Completed: R459 Improving Cultivation Practices in Potatoes
- Completed: AHDB Potatoes Grower Collaboration Project - comparing strandard crop management to a modified approach recommended by CUF with fine tuned N applications and seed rates
- Completed: R444 Managing cover crops and cultivations
- Completed: R443 Review: Potash Offtake and Crop Requirement
- Completed: R405 Improved Canopy and N management
- Completed: 807/228 Evaluation of the Soil Nitrogen Supply (SNS) system
- Completed: 807/226 Compost in Agriculture
- Completed: 807/196 Linking Agronomy and Storage for Better Processing
Links to other organisations and publications
- Tried and Tested Nutrient Management planning toolkit
- NVZ Guidance – England
- NVZ Guidance – Wales
- NVZ Guidance – Scotland
- SRUC Technical Note TN651. Nitrogen recommendations for cereals, oilseed rape and potatoes.
- SRUC Technical Note TN633. Phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and magnesium recommendations for cereals, oilseed rape and potatoes.
- SRUC Technical Note TN650. Optimising the application of bulking organic fertilisers.
