Biological products are growing and many farmers are looking at alternatives due to poor quality of crops, stock health issues and government restrictions on N use. We wanted to create an organic natural product that could complement our liquid EM range but offer farmers/growers the option of using EM in their soils without another pass across the paddock or orchard. This product will not only enhance fertiliser, but also help improve the soil and the environment.
Development
Following advice from other EM producers overseas we looked at key ingredients we could use to provide a ‘home’ for the microbes and a food source. This was important as the product needed to be affordable for the enduser, easily produced, a high quality produc, easily used e.g. spreading and mixed effectively into seed and fertiliser. Once our core ingredients were determined we start to make batches and developed a blend we were happy with.
Trials
We made some larger batches for the initial round of trials.The Trials consisted of glasshouse pot trials to test the effectiveness at enhancing growth of plants when added to fertiliser. This research showed a significant increase in yield can be gained when adding EM Fert Enhance to a fertiliser blend. The trial had 10 replicates, and was maintained and harvested by technician, Dr Sonya Olykan (BHU, Lincoln University), and the data analysed by Dr Tim Jenkins. The test crop was triticale.
Figure 1 gives the result of a glasshouse pot trial, comparing different rates of EM Fert Enhance combined with a fertiliser containing phosphate, pottasium and sulphur. The trial had 10 replicates and the test crop was the cereal Triticale (Triticosecale).
The results show that adding EM fert Enhance to the fertiliser we achieved a significant increase in drymatter production (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two rates (5kg vs 10kg).
Figure 2 gives the result of a glasshouse pot trial, comparing different rates of EM Fert Enhance combined with a fertiliser containing nitrogen, phosphate, potassium and sulphur (NPKS). The trial had 10 replicates and the test crop was the cereal Triticale (Triticosecale).
The results show that adding EM fert Enhance to the fertiliser NPKS, we achieved a significant increase in drymatter production at the 10 kg rate (P<0.05). In the presence of N, the rate of 5 kg/ha was higher than the control, although it was not statistically significant. Indicating that when Nitrogen is added we may need to a rate of 10kg/ha to achieve the best result.
Fertiliser Breakdown
To show that EM Fert Enhance will enhance breakdown fertiliser granules therefore make the nutrient available to the soil and the plant we set up a visual pot trial. We did this by adding soil and the exact same volume of guano to each pot. EM was then added to 2 of the 3 plots per treatment keeping an untreated control. Each pot had 50ml of water every 3 days and these pictures were taken after 2 weeks.The below picture shows our recently developed dry product or EM Fert Enhance at 3% and 5% against a no EM control. This also shows EM speeding the breakdown of the granules up with EM Fert Enhance at 5% the best treatment. Both EM treatments have broken down the majority of the granules vs the no treated control having over 50% still intact.
Conclusion
The product development has achieved the following key objectives;
- A high quality fermented microbial finished product
- Cost effective
- Large scale manufacturing
- Effectiveness of enhanced growth when applied
- A product that flows and can be mixed with large scale mechanization
For the past year we have been selling this product through a number of distributors with great feedback from farmers. The product is now being sold throughout the country. Due to the fact that this product was designed to be blended with fertilisers it is sold through Soil Consultants and Fertiliser companies throughout the country. Please contact EMNZ to find out the supplier closet to you.
This dry inoculant is a Soil Enhancing mixture of quality natural materials which have been carefully fermented with soil enhancing EM microbes. These natural materials provide a ‘home’ for the microbes allowing prolonged activity.
The function of the microbes in EM creates a more efficient use of added nutrients, generating a better growth response from fertiliser inputs. They do this by solubilising nutrient compounds to make them available for uptake by the plants root system; this also includes compounds previously unavailable to plants. In addition microbial activity is stimulated in the soil to contribute towards improved plant growth.
Research has shown that this dry inoculant combined with fertiliser can assist in:
- Stimulating nutrient transfer in the soil
- Increasing the soil organic matter content and available nutrients
- Providing nutrients and stimulatory compounds to growing plants
- Improving the soil porosity and permeability
- Increasing the micro-biomass of the soil
Benefits of Using EM Fert Enhance
Using EM Fert Enhance can:
- Release nutrients from the soil
- Reduce fertiliser wastage
- Increase soil microbial activity
- Improve soil structure and water holding capacity
- Increase photosynthetic capacity of plants
- Suppress soil borne pathogens and pests
- Improve plant growth
Source link
