Mineral nutrition: the best ways to increase crop yield (Review)

High prices for fertilizers make farmers look for other ways to increase the efficiency of mineral nutrition of plants. Thus, part of the expositions at the exhibition «International Fields Days Ukraine» was devoted to new technologies in the field of fertilizer application. In recent years, attention of agricultural producers is being increasingly focused on liquid fertilizers. This is no coincidence. The uniformity of application, cheaper cost per unit of active substance, less dependence on atmospheric precipitation, high coefficient of plant use are far from the complete list of advantages of liquid fertilizers over dry granular fertilizers.

For those, who have already get acquainted with the advantages of liquid fertilizers, or think about alternative ways of plant nutrition, the logical question is - what tool should be used for fertilizer application.

Injection technology by the company «UDAZ»

The solution for application of liquid mineral fertilizers is offered by "Gṻstrower". The injection machine makes fertilizer injections directly into the soil.

The needle pin works on the principle of the injector valve by the way of injecting the required dose of fertilizers into the soil. The quantity of fertilizers is regulated from 50 to 2000 l/ha. Some sort of depot with fertilizers is created into the soil, to which the plants have access throughout the period of growth.

"The fertilizer is applied to the depth of 6 cm by the way of injection. This fertilizer is delivered to the roots and creates a so-called depot. From this depot, nitrogen does not disappear anywhere and is not washed away by the groundwater and remains for a long time. The fertilizers are applied at the beginning of the vegetative period, and the entire growth process the fertilizer is absorbed by plants from this depot", said Oleg Savin, the head of the sales department at the company «UDAZ».

This treatment allows applying fertilizers into the soil without injuring plants and without losing nutrients. One treatment is sufficient for the entire vegetative period.

From the advantages of this technique, it should be mentioned the following:

– Minimal soil damage

– One-time application of necessary quantity of fertilizers

– Without loss of nitrogen into the atmosphere

It is also worth to note such a disadvantage like a large number of working tools. There are 12 needle pins on one disk, to each of which a plastic tube for supplying of fertilizer is connected. There is a probability of failure on problem fields, where there are stones, driftwood and other irregularities.

Fertilizer applicator FAST

Our attention was also attracted by the American technique for application of liquid mineral fertilizers.

Particularly well, the aggregate is suitable for applying of сarbamide-ammonia mixture in maize in a phase of 5-6 sheets. The fertilizer should be applied to the depth of 6 cm into the space between rows. Thus, the plant receives necessary amount of nitrogen in critical period of growth.

 All agronomists know that the size of the cob is formed in the phase V5-V6 and the number of grains is laid in the row. In case of nitrogen deficiency, the plant will form a cob of a smaller size, which will negatively affect the yield.

"We represent a fertilizer applicator with a volume 5000 liters and working width 12 meters. It is possible to add a few more knives in order to apply the liquid fertilizers deeper into the soil. The pump has a fixed adjustment and all the settings have already been set. Thus, this equipment can initially work on the field. Regarding this model, there is no computer and hydraulic system, as this is the basic model of the machine, and it can be connected to any model of the tractor ", shared the advantages of the equipment Ben Shuitert, the head of the company «BenAgro».

The application of fertilizers directly into the soil allows avoiding the loss of nitrogen into the atmosphere, the nutrients are immediately available to plants, and there are no burns of leaves, as is the case with carbomide-ammonium mixture. In addition, the treatment itself does not depend on the weather conditions. After all, in order to apply fertilizers to the surface of the soil, treatment must be carried out immediately before the rain; otherwise, a large part of the nitrogen will simply evaporate.