Zinc (Zn) is one of the eight essential micronutrients. It is needed by plants in small amounts, but yet crucial to plant development. Read more…

World population is expected to grow by over a third by 2050. This means that market demand for food will continue to grow.
Production in the developing countries would need to almost double. Read more…

Timing of fertilizer application has a significant effect on crop yields. Proper timing of the fertilizer application increases yields, reduces nutrient losses, increases nutrient use efficiency and prevents damage to the environment. Read more…

Potassium is an essential plant nutrient and is required in large amounts for proper growth and reproduction of plants. Potassium is considered second only to nitrogen, when it comes to nutrients needed by plants, and is commonly considered as the “quality nutrient.” Read more…

Nitrogen is the building block of amino acids, proteins and chlorophyll. Plants can absorb nitrogen either as Nitrate (NO3-) or Ammonium (NH4+), and therefore, the total uptake of nitrogen usually consists of a combination of these two forms. Read more…

There are 13 mineral nutrients that are essential for completion of the plant’s life cycle. Macro-elements are required in large quantities: nitrogen, potassium, phosphor, calcium, magnesium, sulfur. Micro-nutrients are required in very low concentration: iron, manganese, zinc, copper, molybdenum, boron, chlorine. Read more…

Plant diseases are a major limiting factor in agricultural production. Most growers use high amounts of chemicals to control plant diseases, unaware to the fact that mineral nutrition has an important role in disease control. Read more…

Calcium uptake by the plant is passive and does not require energy input. Calcium mobility in the plant takes places mainly in the xylem, together with water. Therefore calcium uptake is directly related to the plant transpiration rate. Read more…

An approach for giving fertilizer recommendations refers to the way conclusions are drawn based on soil tests. Soil-testing labs and crop consultants may give different recommendations based on the same test results if they use different approaches. Read more…