Implementing the Five Rs of Nutrient Stewardship for Fertigation in Florida’s Vegetable Production

TLDR: The five Rs of nutrient stewardship are a mnemonic device used to emphasize accuracy and precision for nutrient management to apply the (1) right source of fertilizer at the (2) right rate at (3) right time in the (4) right place with the (5) right irrigation method.

Abstract: The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office. U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. The five Rs of nutrient stewardship is a mnemonic device used to emphasize accuracy and precision for nutrient management to apply the (1) right source of fertilizer at the (2) right rate at the (3) right time in the (4) right place with the (5) right irrigation method (Liu et al. 2019). Depending on state or region, the irrigation point may be omitted, leaving the four Rs of nutrient stewardship. Florida has many sandy soils that may result in mineral leaching, and this leaching may be impacted by irrigation scheduling (Waddell et al. 2000; Zhang et al. 2002). Therefore, this fifth R is imperative for sustainable nutrient management for commercial crop production. These main points of nutrient management (source, rate, time, place, irrigation) may help enhance sustainability by reducing pollution from nitrate leaching, nitrogen loss through ammonia volatilization, and climate change from soil greenhouse gas emission (Liu et al. 2015).