BiOWiSH Technologies recently hosted an exclusive webinar to unlock the science behind fertilizer enhancements. Featuring Alex Susko, Agronomy Product Manager, Haley Nolen, Applied Scientist, and Tami Fraser, North American Sales Manager from BiOWiSH, the webinar provided a scientific overview of optimizing fertilizer efficiency, particularly nitrogen (N) loss pathways and providing innovative solutions to reduce nutrient loss. Attendees learned differences between narrow-scope (inorganic enhancements) and broader scope (naturally derived enhancements) for chemical fertilizers and a better understanding of the modes of action of the many common fertilizer enhancements currently available in the marketplace. Certified Crop Advisors and Certified Professional Agronomists in the United States, Canada and Mexico were able to earn 1.0 CEU in Nutrient Management through the American Society of Agronomy.
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Key takeaways include:
Nineteenth-century economists and social scientists worked feverishly to prevent the end of mankind. What stirred them on was the theory, proposed by the British economist Thomas Malthus, that the world would soon run out of food.
Malthus based this theory on his belief that the population was increasing exponentially while its food supply increased arithmetically. Thus, barring wars, pandemics, “moral restraint” (i.e., abstinence), or other forms of “population control”, there would soon not be enough food to sustain human life.
And yet, we are still here. Why?
Possibly because Malthus failed to take technology into account. If he had paid attention to the agricultural revolution in his native England, he would have seen many changes taking place to minimize threats to food stability.
The land was being reallocated to make farms more compact and, thus, more efficient. Farmers were being bombarded with technical improvements–new machinery, better drainage systems, new crops, and new methods of crop rotation—so they could grow food more efficiently. And agronomists were starting to investigate the most basic factor in the “feast-vs-famine” equation: fertilizer.
Technical innovation, automation, and the availability of a wide variety of fertilizers continue to transform traditional farming into an industry.
Fertilizer is any substance that is added to soil to supply nutrients to plants. Ideally, fertilizer should provide three nutrients that are essential for optimal plant growth: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).
When used judiciously in combination with other effective agricultural practices– adequate irrigation, quality seeds, soil fertility management, etc.—fertilizer helps produce a successful yield. For maximum effect, fertilizer should be free-flowing, made of hard granules, consistent in particle size, easy to spread, rich in many nutrients, easy to dissolve in moist soil, and free from undesirable contaminants.
Since the beginning of time, farmers have seen crop yields diminish in the land that is used continuously and varies in quality in different types of soil. They often added materials to the soil to boost its fertility.
Manure became a common “additive”, being readily available as herds grazed over farmland. Other additives have included wood ash, gypsum, and guano (bird excrement).
Unfortunately, the results from simply plowing such additives into the earth were not always predictable, being subject to the weather, soil conditions, predators, and other factors.
Fertilizer effectiveness received a boost during the s when German chemist Justus von Liebig advocated for the application of specific nutrients to the soil to improve plant growth. As he was the first person to discover that nitrogen helps grow healthier crops,
Liebig is known as the “Father of the Fertilizer Industry”. He was also able to identify the importance of phosphorus, and potassium as essential nutrients for adequate plant growth. In addition, Liebig formulated the Law of the Minimum, which describes how plant growth relies on the scarcest nutrient resource, rather than the total amount of resources available.
During the 20th century, three additional methods of enhancing the ammonia-based nitrogen content of soil were introduced:
These methods were developed in response to a US food crisis in and were used successfully to combat food instability during the prolonged US drought during the s that resulted in the Dust Bowl.
Ongoing research has led to the development of fertilizers that can be customized for specific types of crops under specific growing conditions to make them sturdy enough to maintain their quality and effectiveness during the roughest modes of transport and the wildest swings in the weather.
Plants require 17 essential nutrients for growth: carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn).
Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are supplied by air and water. The six macronutrients– nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur– are required by plants in large amounts. The rest of the elements are required in trace amounts and are known as micronutrients.
These nutrients are essential for healthy plant growth. Specifically, plants need them to complete their life cycle, i.e., for seeds to germinate and for roots, stems, leaves, and flowers to develop. There are three criteria for an element to be considered essential:
Each nutrient must be provided in its proper amount: too much manganese, for example, can cause the leaves to turn yellow and die; too much nitrogen can result in more leaves, but less fruit.
Plant nutrients should be provided in an optimum ratio and adequate amounts. This is called “Balanced Fertilization”. Continuously imbalanced fertilization (i.e., too much nitrogen and no potassium) causes depletion in soil fertility, a decrease in crop yields, poor crop quality, and diminishing profits.
Organic manure contains small amounts of N, P, and K nutrients and can not supply alone all the nutrients needed by the crops. The application of organic manure in balanced fertilization is very valuable due to micronutrient supply and improvement of the soil quality by enhancing microbiological activity and physical properties (structure, water-holding, aeration).
The best results are obtained when commercial fertilizers are applied in combination with organic manures. This is called Integrated Nutrient Management (INM). The source, mode of uptake into plants, and functions of these nutrients in plants are summarized in the table below.
TABLE: NUTRIENTS FOR FERTILIZERS
The myriad of nutrients and methods of nutrient intake point to the broad array of fertilizers available today. As a world-leading fertilizer manufacturer, ICL uses state-of-the-art technology to provide farmers with the critical nutrients needed to boost productivity, health, and quality of crops.
Our portfolio includes controlled-release, fertigation, foliar, granulated NPK, potash, phosphate, Polysulphate®, and next-generation (next-gen) fertilizers among others.
Are you interested in learning more about Fertilizer Enhancer Products? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!
Controlled Release Fertilizers (CRF) are coated fertilizer granules that release nutrients over a known period of time. They play a key role in improving yield, reducing nutrient losses, and simplifying fertilizer application. These products help regulate the nutrient levels throughout the plant’s growth cycle.
Younger plants are not harmed or stressed by excess salt levels, whereas mature plants have enough nutrients to last until the end of the growth cycle. A simple one-time application of ICL’s CRF delivers targeted nutrition that leads to uniform growth, optimum yield, and resistant plants: maximum results with minimal effort.
The benefits of ICL’s Controlled Release Fertilizers at a glance are as follows:
Fertigation fertilizers are soluble fertilizers that are mixed with the irrigation water to enhance crop production. In this system, the fertilizer solution is distributed evenly in irrigation.
The availability of nutrients is very high therefore efficiency is increased. It is a highly effective and flexible tool for controlling the placement, timing, and nutrient application method. This enables precise nutrition to be applied according to the soil fertility status and growth stage of any crop.
ICL sets the standard in fertigation fertilizer technology. ICL uses PeKacid® in its formulations. The focus of this technology is the acidifying effect that produces a range of benefits:
Foliar fertilizers are sprayed directly on the leaves. Foliar feeding provides an excellent solution when the plant root system is not functioning optimally or nutrition via the soil is malfunctioning.
This form of feeding is ideal when nutrient uptake through the root is disturbed by factors such as overly cold or warm soils, high soil pH, high weed competition, or nematode infestation. Foliar fertilizers are also perfect for use as a preventive tool to avoid deficiencies and reduce stress situations.
ICL’s research and development team has developed some of the world’s leading and innovative foliar nutritional solutions. These state-of-the-art solutions focus on both applications for curative and preventive actions.
ICL uses unique patented technologies like M-77® and DPI to increase the efficiency of the foliar application.
Polysulphate® is a natural mineral that is mined from underneath the North Sea that contains four nutrients: sulfur, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. It is a single complex crystal, totally natural, and ready to be used straight from the ICL mine on the fields.
This natural, multi-nutrient mineral is low in chloride and crop safe, suitable for use alone or in blends and compound fertilizers. It is approved for organic agriculture.
ICL has designed the Polysulphate® family of products to help more farmers achieve balanced plant nutrition for whichever crop they grow, whatever soil type they have, and wherever in the world they farm. The Polysulphate® family includes
Granulated NPK fertilizers are nitrogen (N)-phosphorus (P)-potassium (K) fertilizers that have been customized through the addition of other macronutrients or micronutrients to each granule to enhance plant growth.
ICL offers tailor-made NPK formulas with additional MgO and micronutrients. ICL’s NPK fertilizers are sturdy enough and guarantee the maintenance of the quality during handling, bulk blending, and field applications. They are easily uniformly distributed in the field by modern mechanical spreaders and deliver superior yields, improved quality, and increased profitability.
Potash (potassium chloride, MOP, or KCl) is the most highly valued and widely used potassium fertilizer in the world. Potash efficiently delivers potassium nutrients to growing crops.
Potassium increases disease resistance, drought tolerance, plumpness of grain and seed, and improves stem rigidity and cold hardiness. The application of potash also enhances the firmness, texture, flavor, size, and color of fruit crops and increases the oil content of oil crops.
Phosphate fertilizers are phosphorus-based fertilizers. Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for adequate crop growth. It promotes root and seed development and the overall maturation of the plant.
ICL manufactures phosphate fertilizers from phosphate rock obtained through surface mining. ICL’s main phosphate-based products include
Next-gen fertilizers are designed to provide solutions for farmers to grow healthier and stronger crops sustainably.
Biostimulants: ICL’s biostimulants enhance soil health, resulting in improved nutrient uptake and productivity as well as increased tolerance and recovery from stresses such as heat, water, or disease.
Wetting agents: H2Flo is a wetting and water conservation agent developed by ICL for use within the soil. H2Flo’s unique technology enables quick and total wetting of the substrate and soils allowing for water to move both vertically and horizontally.
H2Flo leads the way among water conservation products, having the highest concentration of active ingredients (88%) of the most advanced wetting agents available. H2Flo allows growers and farmers to optimize water use efficiency saving time and energy.
ICL R&D is working on
More on the subject:
What are Water Soluble Fertilizers (WSFs)?
What are Controlled Release Fertilizers?
TSP and SSP Phosphate Fertilizers and their Contribution to Farming
ICL is interested in exploring innovative methods of
We no longer live in fear of Malthusian predictions of food instability wiping out mankind. Such crises still arise, of course, but research and technological developments have allowed us to create an armamentarium of fertilizers that we can use to respond to such crises efficiently. When we are finally able to provide a food supply large enough for the world’s population twice over without harming the environment, we will be assured of a bright—and generally hunger-free—future.
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