LOCAL RESOURCE-MANAGEMENT (LRM) OF AGRICU LTURAL SOILS

Many efforts are made to evaluate the fertiliser demands of crops by a nalysing soils and plants and to establish recommendation schemes. But when it comes to the application of nutrients in the field all operat ions are done more ore less blindfolded because a: the analysed sample s are taken randomly distributed they can never reflect the true spati al variability in the soil environment and b: fertilisers are distribu ted evenly which result in a side by side of ecological and economical unsatisfying over- and undersupply of the plants. Local Resource Mana gement (LRM) is a more consistent term for what is handled outside Ger many as ''Precision Farming''. LRM is based on the idea that addressin g the spatial variability of soil fertility parameters is the most pro mising approach to improve the utilisation of inputs towards a more su stainable agriculture. The use of nutrients for instance is a good exa mple to highlight the problems for which LRM will be the future soluti on.