In coming decades, a major issue in designing sustainable agricultural system will be the management of soil organic matter and the rational use of inputs such as animal manures, crop residue, green manures, sewage sludge and food industry wastes. However, since organic manures cannot meet modern agriculture, integrated use of nutrients from the fertilizers and organic sources seems to be a need of the time. The continuous use of high levels of chemical fertilizers is adversely affecting the sustainability of agriculture production and causing environmental pollution. It is ultimately viable to achieve such a target through the wise application of INM approach, which is known as a balanced mixture of organic, inorganic and bio-fertilizers in suitable combinations. The basic concept underlying the integrated management system (INMS), nevertheless, is the maintenance and possible improvement of soil fertility for sustaining crop productivity on long term basis and also to reduce fertilizer input cost. The different components of integrated nutrient management process have great diversity in terms of chemical and physical properties and nutrient release patterns.
Key words: INM, organic manure, bio-fertilizer, sustainable agriculture.
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