Use slow release NPK and keep plants moist

The Institute of Applied Materials Science under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology produces and tests slow-release NPK fertilizers and moisturizers for crops in the Central Highlands.

Over the course of the study, it was shown that the effectiveness of using these fertilizers in combination with humectants compared to the conventional fertilizers that people in the Central Highlands provinces are using when cultivating industrial crops. This brings economic efficiency, reduces investment costs and is environmentally friendly; bringing new awareness to farmers in the cultivation of industrial crops.

Scientists have experimented on coffee trees in Dak Ha commune, Dak Glong district, Dak Nong province and tea plants in Loc Thanh commune, Bao Loc city, Lam Dong province using slow-discharge NPK fertilizers in combination with the moisturizing . Experimental results on 8-year-old tea plants showed that, when applying the same amount of fertilizer with the control tea batch, tea yield increased 3.2% when using 70% of fertilizer compared to normal and increasing productivity of 8.1 % when using the same amount of fertilizer compared to the control group.

Harvesting coffee.(Photo: Quang Quyet / VNA)

For 3-year-old Arabica coffee trees, according to farmers' practices for yield of 7.5 tons / ha, when using slow-discharge fertilizer with the amount of NPK equal to 70% of the fertilizer used by ordinary people , tea coffee plants yield 10.2 tons per hectare.

From the research results and practical application of industrial crops, scientists said, when using slow-release fertilizer , farmers will reduce a large amount of labor, warehousing and transportation. Moreover, the use of slow release fertilizer is much more environmentally friendly than conventional fertilizers.

According to many recent scientific works, farmers use very low amounts of fertilizer used by plants: nitrogen fertilizer is only absorbed by 30%, phosphate fertilizer and potassium absorption is about 40%. The rest is lost due to the process of leaching or decomposition. Until now, most of farmers have applied industrial crops mainly by experience, little known about advanced science and technology, so some industrial plants are limited in productivity as well as product quality.

The results of research on plant fertilization, scientists show that the potential application of slow-release NPK for many plants is very high. Currently, chemical fertilizers with higher prices and greater requirements for environmental protection in farming, so the use of slow-discharge NPK is effective, is a necessary need.