WOW THIS IS AWESOME ..... .And in a spinach field outside of Soledad, Richard Smith, a scientist with the UC Cooperative Extension in Salinas, is conducting field trials on ways to more efficiently apply fertilizers. The research is important because the ever-present nitrogen in fertilizer converts to nitrate through a biological process in the soil. When irrigation water hits the nitrate, what isn’t used by the plant is leached down into the ground water that is then pumped up for human consumption. Nitrate is a proven health risk, particularly for small infants. Consequently, regulators such as the Regional Water Quality Control Board are becoming tougher, insisting that growers come as close as possible to applying only enough nitrogen-based fertilizer that the crop will absorb, leaving little to leach into groundwater. Smith has been working with a product that would effectively coat the fertilizer particles in a type of plastic casing, similar to how time-released medicines break down in the human digestive track. When the nitrogen is released slowly, in prescribed amounts over a known period of time, more uptake into the plant occurs and less nitrate is available to leach into the groundwater.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 23:53:52 +0000