
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nisha, Sofina 
A1  - Prasad, Surendra 
A1  - Bhati, Jagdish 
T1  - Evaluation of soil nutrient management practices of taro farmers in Taveuni, Fiji
JF  - The South Pacific Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences
JO  - S. Pac. J. Nat. App. Sci.
Y1  - 2015
VL  - 32
IS  - 2
SP  - 61
EP  - 68
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/SP14010 
N2  - There is evidence that the soil health in Taveuni, Fiji is deteriorating over time threatening livelihoods of taro producers. The present study was conducted to understand the soil nutrient management practices followed by taro farmers in Taveuni. The study revealed that the farmers in Taveuni use various organic and chemical fertilizers and various other soil fertility management practices such as mulching, crop rotation with legumes, yagona and agroforestry. The quantity of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash (NPK) applied to taro crop on different types of soils was meager. The study further revealed that there was imbalanced and insufficient use of chemical fertilizers and organic sources of soil nutrients. The main cause of low use of fertilizers was that the farmers in Taveuni do not know the fertility status of their farms as no soil testing was ever done and majority of them are also not fully aware of various low-cost organic methods of maintaining soil fertility of farms. 
ER  -

