How to increase yields with humic fertilizers?

How to increase crop yields through humic fertilizers? Humic fertilizers: the best diet for the soil.

At the present stage, agriculture is universally associated with the use of various fertilizers. They are extremely important for obtaining high yields of agricultural crops along with the influence of climatic conditions and soil factors. Once in the past, the main fertility deficit was filled by applying only organic fertilizers. Then came the time of chemical fertilizers. However, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers in recent decades in conventional agriculture, has caused a number of serious environmental problems. These include: contamination of soil and water resources, reduction of food quality, disturbance of biological balance of soils. All this causes irreparable damage to the ecosystem. Given the nature of the damage, the global approach to the use of chemical fertilizers has now changed. It has become oriented towards reducing the share of such fertilizers in economic activity as much as possible. And to increase the amount of mineral, organic substances such as biohumus, humic acid, livestock manure and others. In general, the choice of environmentally friendly fertilizers has become quite wide in recent years. Especially the use of mineral fertilizers and growth regulators has developed now. Therefore, producers are not limited in the choice of inexpensive and convenient ways to increase soil fertility. One of them is to saturate the soil with humic substances.

Humic substances (humic and fulvic acids) are natural compounds obtained from peat, lignite, silt or sapropel by treating them with a weak alkaline solution Humic acids have a rather complex structure and a large molecular weight. They are a loose powder of brown or black color, easily soluble in alkalis and nitrogenous organic solvents. Humic acid substances exist widely in natural environments such as soil, coal and water bodies. It is a kind of natural organic polymer that is decomposed and synthesized through microorganisms and geochemistry. It is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and other elements. In addition, humic acids are invaluable to agriculture as a source of: molybdenum, copper, iron, manganese, zinc and boron.

Although humates are commonly referred to as a fertilizer, they are actually a natural growth stimulant. Humic acids introduced into the soil improve its physical and chemical parameters, such as: water permeability, aeration, granulation, water-holding capacity of the soil. They increase metabolism and reproduction of useful soil microflora, form a protective system of plants against the action of unfavorable factors, improve the stress resistance of plants, their growth potential, seed germination rate. When humates are absorbed by roots or shoots of plants, their cells normalize metabolic processes and increase the rate of protein synthesis. This influence will allow plants to be healthy, which contributes to obtaining high yields from the fields.

This technology of crop cultivation with the use of growth regulators – humic fertilizers – is also called biologization of farming. From an economic point of view, the technology is profitable and environmentally friendly.

Methods of humic fertilizers production seriously affect their quality and composition. On this basis, humic preparations can be divided by the origin of raw materials for production: these are preparations extracted from carbonized materials (brown coal, lignite, leonardite), preparations from peat and bottom sediments (peat, sapropel), organic waste (lignosulfonate, vermicompost). Also humates are divided by the composition of humic acid salts, the main products on the market are potassium and sodium salts.

The most available, and therefore the most common raw material for humate production is lignite. Preparations made from coal contain the largest amount of carbon and the least amount of nitrogen, and humic acids dominate in the composition of the aqueous extract, accounting for 75-80% of water-soluble organic matter.

Sapropel preparations contain high amounts of nitrogen and approximately equal amounts of humic acids and acid-soluble fraction.

Preparations from organic waste inherit very low nitrogen content from raw materials, but high sulfur content (about 4%) and have a sharp predominance of fulvic acids over humic acids: 90% vs. 10%, respectively. The most environmentally friendly way to produce humates is vermicomposts, as the processing of organics by worms is a potentially safe procedure.

By physical state humic fertilizers are divided into dry, liquid and pasty. Manufacturers produce preparations in the form in which the composition will be most effective.

Most humic preparations are applied in relatively small rates – from 0.5 to 1.5 l/ha. The methods of their application are quite diverse and include pre-sowing soaking of seeds, spraying of plants, application together with fertilizers and other stimulants. Humates can be used in mixtures with most fertilizers and plant protection products, biopreparations and growth regulators. In most cases, humates enhance the effect of the fertilizers with which they are applied. The effect of humic preparations on quality plant growth has been widely studied and tested both in practice and in laboratory conditions. For example, in one study on plots using humates, their good performance resulted in higher soybean yields. And as a result of laboratory studies, it was found that treatment of soybean seeds with fertilizers based on humic acids contributed to an increase in germination energy on the third day of germination by 2-7% of laboratory germination, and on the seventh day – by 2-6% compared to the control variant. Thereafter, a stimulatory effect on seedling development was observed. In general, the use of humic additives increased the field germination of seeds by 3.5% and promoted better growth and development of plants. At the same time, they formed more powerful vegetative mass and root system. Treatment of crops with humic fertilizers increased protein content in grain by 1.1 and 1.3%, and oil content – by 0.4 and 0.5%, respectively. The economic efficiency of the use of additives depended on their effect on yield, cost of preparations and rates of their application. Thus, due to the increase in soybean productivity after seed treatment and double spraying of crops, the cost of gross output increased noticeably. Thus, the results of the conducted research indicate the high efficiency of humic additives in the cultivation of various crops. So at correct and rational use of humic fertilizers it is possible to achieve 15-30% increase of fruit-trees yield and to improve the quality of fruits. How humic acid promotes the growth of fruit trees? Due to the redox properties of humic acid, it can increase the respiration intensity of the root system of trees and provide energy for their vital activity. Enhance physiological metabolism, which helps rapid root growth in young trees. Form strong stems, branches and leaves, ensuring normal growth of fruit trees even in drought conditions.

Humic acid can stimulate the growth and reproduction of beneficial microorganisms in the soil. It improves the ability of plants to resist natural diseases and insect pests. To summarize, the agricultural function of humic acid can be reflected in the “five main functions”, these are:

• soil improvement,
• enhancing the effect of other fertilizers,
• growth stimulation,
• increasing resilience to stress,
• improving product quality.