Partial economic assessment of maize grain yield under rainfed conditions using fertilizers of different origins
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61308/JDEQ5778Keywords:
maize, economic efficiency, benefit–cost ratio (BCR), grain yield (GY), grain revenue (GR), direct production costs (DPC), net income (NI), profitability rate (PR), fertilization strategiesAbstract
Maize is the most important feed grain crop worldwide and plays a central role in global food, feed, and industrial production systems. It covers more than а half of the cultivated areas (55%) and nearly three-quarters (72%) of the grain production of all feed crops worldwide. It is a major raw material used for the production of a wide variety of products, mainly concentrated and compound feeds, as well as various food and industrial products such as starch, alcohol, cellulose, paper, construction and insulation materials, among others.
Economic analysis of fertilizer use is increasingly recognized as a key component of sustainable agricultural decision-making. This study presents an extended partial economic assessment of grain maize production under non-irrigated conditions, based on real experimental data obtained at the Bozhurishte experimental field in 2023. The analysis was conducted for all experimental variants, as seven fertilization variants were evaluated using grain yield, taking into account the most important indicators characterizing economic efficiency in maize production. The following indicators were analyzed: grain yield (GY), grain revenue (GR), direct production costs (DPC), net income (NI), profitability rate (PR) and benefit–cost ratio (BCR).
The results revealed that yield maximization does not coincide with economic optimization. Variants characterized by lower input intensity achieved higher economic efficiency, while excessive fertilization resulted in negative economic outcomes. The findings provide a solid economic basis for optimizing fertilization strategies under rainfed maize production systems.
Under conditions of increasing climatic variability, particularly irregular precipitation, economic efficiency becomes a decisive factor in crop management. Rainfed maize production systems are exposed to high yield risk, which amplifies the negative economic consequences of high input intensity. The results of the present study clearly demonstrate that fertilization variants with excessive input costs are economically vulnerable under such conditions.
References
Boiko, P., Kovalenko, N., Yurkevych, Y., Albul, S., & Valentiuk, N. (2024). The efficiency of maize production under the conditions of climate change in Ukraine: the use of highly productive hybrids and scientific technologies with elements of biologization. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 30(4), 739-746.
Cassman, K.G., Dobermann, A., & Walters, D.T. (2002). Agroecosystems, nitrogen-use efficiency, and nitrogen management. Ambio, 31, 132-140.
Chen, Y., Xiao, C., Wu, D., Xia, T., Chen, Q., Chen, F., & Mi, G. (2015). Effects of nitrogen application rate on grain yield and grain nitrogen concentration in two maize hybrids with contrasting nitrogen remobilization efficiency. European Journal of Agronomy, 62, 79-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2014.09.008.
Duan, Y., Xu, M., Gao, S., Liu, H., Huang, S., & Wang, B. (2016). Long-term incorporation of manure with chemical fertilizers reduced total nitrogen loss in rain-fed cropping systems. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 33611.
FAO (2006). World Reference Base for Soil Resources (2006). FAO, Rome.
Koinov, V. (1987). Correlation between the soils of Bulgaria and the soils distinguished by the major soil classification systems in the world. Soil Science, Agrochemistry and Plant Protection, 22(5), 5-13 (Bg).
Li, G.H., Cheng, G.G., Lu, W.P., & Lu, D.L. (2021). Differences of yield and nitrogen use efficiency under different applications of slow-release fertilizer in spring maize. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 20(2), 554-564.
Lobell, D.B., Schlenker, W., & Costa-Roberts, J. (2011). Climate trends and global crop production since 1980. Science, 333, 616-620.
Mueller, N.D., Gerber, J.S., Johnston, M., Ray, D.K., Ramankutty, N., & Foley, J.A. (2012). Closing yield gaps through nutrient and water management. Nature, 490, 254-257.
Nazarkov, M. (2024). Dynamics of accumulation of absolutely dry biomass in maize in dependence on applied fertilization on Vertisol. Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science, Agrochemistry and Ecology, 58(1), 3-15 (Bg).
Nikolova, M., Fixen, P., & Popp, T. (2014). Best management practices for sustainable crop nutrition in Bulgaria. Sofia: BMPSCN Bulgaria – Project of International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), USA (Bg).
Pretty, J., & Bharucha, Z.P. (2014). Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems. Annals of Botany, 114, 1571-1596.
Tilman, D., Cassman, K.G., Matson, P.A., Naylor, R., & Polasky, S. (2002). Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. Nature, 418, 671-677.
Yue, K., Li, L., Xie, J., Fudjoe, S.K., Zhang, R., Luo, Z., & Anwar, S. (2021). Nitrogen supply affects grain yield by regulating antioxidant enzyme activity and photosynthetic capacity of maize plant in the Loess Plateau. Agronomy, 11(6), 1094. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061094.
Zhang, W., Dou, Z., He, P., Ju, X., Powlson, D., Chadwick, D., Norse, D., Lu, Y., Zhang, L., Wu, X., Chen, X., Cassman, K.G., & Zhang, F. (2013). New technologies reduce greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogenous fertilizer in China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(21), 8375-8380. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1210447110.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science, Agrochemistry and Ecology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
