CSIRO PUBLISHING The South Pacific Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 32, 61-68, 2014 www.publish.csiro.au/journals/spjnas 10.1071/SP14010 © The University of the South Pacific (2014) Evaluation of soil nutrient management practices of taro farmers’ in Taveuni, Fiji + Sofina Nisha 1 , Surendra Prasad 1 and Jagdish Bhati 2 1 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, The University of the South Pacific, Private Mail Bag, Suva, Fiji. 2 School of Agriculture and Food Technology, Faculty of Business and Economics The University of the South Pacific, Alafua Campus, Apia, Samoa. Abstract 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. Keywords: Soil nutrient, Soil health, Soil fertility, Soil management, Taro cultivation + Part of this paper was presented at the 51 st Annual Convention of Chemists (Conference of the Indian Chemical Society), 9-12 December 2014, held at Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India. 1. Introduction The greatest natural resource of any country is the soil (Brady, 1984; DAC, 2011). It is the medium from which majority of the food is produced either directly or indirectly. The soil quality defines quantity and quality i.e. nutritional value and safety of the foods grown (Colin et al., 2005; Rosegrant and Cline, 2003; Yong-Guan, 2009). Since food which plays an important life-sustaining role, is generated from the soil, it is extremely essential to maintain the capacity of the soil to sustain productivity, environmental quality and the human health (Bennett et al., 1999). Poor soil management practices and intensive cultivation of land causing soil degradation has become a global concern as it is a major contributing factor to soil erosion, soil acidification and losses of soil organic matters (SOM) and soil nutrients (Adesanwo, 2009). On the whole, it decreases the agricultural production capacity, food security and livelihoods. The problem of degrading soil is aggravated by the need to reduce poverty and unsustainable farming practices (Colin et al., 2005; Sanchez et al., 1997). The depletion of soil fertility is a major environmental and economic issue in developing countries like Fiji. Evidence suggests that the land degradation problem in Fiji is not improving in spite awareness of the numerous environmental issues. In Fiji, the primary form of land degradation is the soil fertility degradation (Asafu-Adjaye, 2008). In many parts of the country, the loss of the soil chemical fertility due to nutrient depletion is becoming an increasingly serious problem (Prasad, 2006). Fiji’s soils including those of Taveuni have been reported to be deficient of many essential nutrients. Reports by Duncan, suggested that the problem of declining soil fertility is threatening taro producers in Fiji (Duncan, 2010). Therefore, soil testing and fertilizer trials should be conducted to determine whether the plant nutrition problem was due to lack of macronutrients or micronutrients in the soil (Duncan, 2010). The study undertaken by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has also confirmed the declining trend in the soil fertility on the island of Taveuni, Fiji (Smith, 2011). This study showed that in some of the taro production areas on Taveuni, there are visible impacts of deteriorating the soil health and thus, agricultural growth has slowed down, causing unsustainable taro production (Smith, 2011). This situation has challenged the farmers in Taveuni in trying to reach their planned harvesting goal and led to constant search for new fertile land and hence, the need to clear extensive areas of forest land for taro planting. As a result, Taveuni island has had the highest rate of deforestation in Fiji in recent years (Panapasa, 2012). Since Taveuni is the major producer of taro crop in Fiji, declining soil fertility in that island has posed threat to food and income security for the country due to poor crop yields and low profit margins (Panapasa, 2012).