Why soil test analysis is necessary for cultivation?

When it comes to knowing the type of fertilizer that would match the soil, farmers find it extremely difficult as there are various factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as, requirement of his crops and the characteristics of the soil. Thus, soil test analysis becomes one of the precious tools for effective farming purpose as it will determine the inputs required for efficient and economic production.

Soil, indeed, is the most important aspects of reaping agricultural benefits. Evaluating the nature of the land before sowing any type of crops is vital to derive maximum agricultural benefit. Soil test analysis can serve various purposes as it will help analyze the following facts:

Nutrition level: By detecting the nutrients available in the soil and those that are unavailable, the analysis give farmers a service leading to better and more economic use of fertilizers and better soil management, thereby promoting higher crop yield.

pH Level: Some soils are alkaline while some are acidic in nature that affects the absorption power of nutrients by plants. Soil test analysis, hence, provides the information of the pH level present in the land that helps in deciding which crop should be sown in that particular land.

Nitrogen level: Proper amount of nitrogen is required for the healthy growth of pants, flowers, and seeds. Through soil test analysis farmers can get to know the nitrogen level of their land.

There are various other things such as the presence of Sulphur, Potassium, harmful weeds, etc, that can be detected and hence the information can be used for the purpose of effective farming.

Agrilibrium: One-Stop Destination for Products with Essential Plant Nutrients

Companies operating in the agriculture domain keep on introducing new products that intend to better the condition of plants. These products are important in the wake of enriching the soil with essential plant nutrients extracted from several effective minerals and chemical compositions. Agrilibirum is home to a wide selection of such useful products that work actively in enhancing the harvest. Since 2001, it has been developing quality stuff to ensure fruitful organic farming.

Its best of breed products subsume the categories of organic and biological products, wetter/spreader, and mineral nutrients, which are further divided into soil applied and foliar applied nutrients. Some of them are described below:

DynoSulf: This product contains water-soluble phyto-fulvate complexed high concentration liquid sulphur with a low ratio of nitrogen to sulphur. It is efficacious both for the soil and leaf applications and is a widely recommended Sulphur or S-complex that makes up for S-deficiencies and imbalances in the plant. Other of its benefits for plants and crops are as below:

• Enhanced photosynthesis and protein synthesis

• Improved plant oil production in oil crops

• Accentuated coloration of ripening fruit

• Improved aroma components in crops such as brassicans, onions, wine grapes, etc.

Fullmax: It is a foliar product from Agrilibrium, which enhances the mobility and uptake of ingredients within the plant when used with glyphospate. It is one of widely demanded foliar nutrition products with effective concentrations to enhance the productivity of plants. While the contained Phytofulvate (fulvic acid) stimulates the growth, the herbicide slows down the protein synthesis.

This altogether, leads to improved activity and efficiency of herbicide or the metabolism and uptake of the foliar nutrient. It also ensures multiple fulvic acid benefits to the plants with its unusual characteristic that gives the wetting and dispersing abilities to the plants. It is extracted from the trees to create such an effect. However, the acid will not exhibit this wetting and spreading behaviour if extracted from any other source.

AminoBoost: The phyto-fulvic acid nutrient chelated product improves soil structure and rehabilitation. It encourages the root’s ability to pierce through the brackish and compacted soils. The product is completely water-soluble with excellent wetter and re-wetter characteristic. It is a unique fulvic acid, which is extracted from trees and is applied to plants by using sprinkler or dripper systems.

To summarize, Agrilibrium provides a range of unique products that are efficacious in increasing the metabolism and health of plants. These products include essential plant nutrients such as liquid sulphur, fulvic acid and more.

How Agrilibrium Aims at Providing Accurate Crop Nutrition?

Agrilibrium, as the name suggests is all about restoring the nature’s balance in agriculture; i.e. to bring about a state of equilibrium. This stability is introduced by striking the right balance between Equilibrium Farming and Plant Stress Management. Both of these are the company’s trademarks and help in giving accurate crop nutrition.

Equilibrium Farming is used chemical and organic plant nutrients along with micro-organisms and soil conditioners to check for soil life and quality. Likewise, Plant stress management includes special foliar applied plant nutrient stimulants and anti-oxidants compounds. It helps in maintaining a balanced nutrient uptake.  Additionally, it also protects the plant from oxygen radical membrane damage of the energy supplying organelles.

Liquid sulphur is one vital nutrient for plant’s health but is not given due importance generally. For curing sulphur deficiency in the plants, Agrilibrium offers various related products. These are soluble in water and are found to be very effective in dealing with the soil imbalances and sulphur deficiency in plants. Dyno Sulf is one such offering of Agrilibrium, which is Phytofulvate complexed.

Soil Test Analysis is another measure of the proper crop nutrition. Products offered by this company are a blend of fulvic acid nutrient element complexes and amino acids. These products make sure that the plants take proper nutrients and function optimally. They also help in stimulating the root growth and improve nutrient uptake by the plants. Your crops can never fail passing any soil testing analysis program when Agrilibrium is with you. It offers a complete soil treatment, fertiliser, and foliar application along with some recommendations, which are based on the analysis of soil test and water extract. These are conducted in a weekly program with a major focus on psychological stages of plants.

Farming is not just about having the right knowledge and concepts, but knowing the right way of farming. Organic Farming is one such way, which is gaining popularity all over. The reason for this may be the growing health conscious nature of the consumers nowadays. They not only want to eat well, but also want the crops to be grown in a healthy way. Organic Farming in South Africa is believed to be the citadel of this way of farming. It helps in reducing pollution and sustaining ecosystem.

To conclude, Agrilibrium indeed offers a variety of products for proper crop nutrition. Its products are rich in natural ingredients and promote organic farming.

Organic Farming without the Quackery

There are a lot of benefits to organic farming South Africa, however small the scale –from the smallest kitchen gardens to the most complex of industrial farms. One of the odd things about it as an industry, though, is the sheer quantity of bad advice it can sometimes attract; you’ll find yourself being told to do all manner of things that don’t necessarily make much sense! The way to get around this is to spend some time educating you about the truth of the matter, to keep from being suckered in by bold claims and unverifiable assertions.

Why to Perform a Home Soil Test Analysis

It’s not actually true that a home soil test can tell you everything about the chemical makeup of the soil in your garden – you’ll hear people claim that occasionally, but in truth all they do is tell you the pH level of the sample you’ve selected. This is often a great deal of use in its own right, but it’s not quite the panacea that some would make it out to be!

Rather than investing in fancy kits that purport to change the way you garden, either buy a simple pH monitor that will do the job just as well or test the soil yourself using vinegar and baking soda. There’s no call to spend more money than that.

Why You Should Consider Liquid Sulphur

Without sulphur, plants can’t produce much in the way of proteins, amino acids, enzymes or vitamins – meaning that they won’t grow well and, once harvested, won’t be as healthy for people to eat. If your soil isn’t too rich in sulphur, adding liquid sulphur to it through a process of foliar feeding will help a great deal.

Why There’s a Point to Amino Acid Chelates

You’d probably need a degree in chemistry to properly understand the workings of chelates, but suffice it to say they’re a great help to many gardeners – but, like everything else, they’re not the kind of magic bullet that some unscrupulous salespeople would have you believe. So why would you need an amino acid chelate at all?

The layperson’s explanation draws on some popular over the counter painkillers. You’ll sometimes find painkillers sold in liquid form: little plastic blobs of pill that, if burst, would have liquid inside the gel-like coating. This makes them quicker for us to absorb, and means that they get to work faster. On a microscopic level, chelates do the same thing to fertiliser – meaning that the plant can better absorb the nutrients inside.

Use Liquid Sulphur and Amino Acid Chelate Products for Root Growth

Recent studies in the South Africa have shown that roots play a more important role than first thought. The roots do not only ensure a healthy plant but it also acts as a communication system alerting the plant of the presence of toxic chemicals or harmful pests. Did you know that for every 10 problems encountered by plants, eight are related to unhealthy root? But why aren’t they given much attention than they deserve? That’s probably because they are buried underground and not seen as much. Liquid sulphur can help promote a healthy root which in turn results in a healthy plant.

The Danger of Human Intervention

Throughout evolutionary history, nature has been happily trudging along. Then the humans arrived. Modern practices in agriculture introduced by human beings have damaged in just a few decades what took nature millions of years to create. Human intervention such as toxic synthetic chemicals, mono-crop agriculture and GMOs all destroyed biodiversity.

This is why it’s important to go back to the basics. It’s amazing how some farmers use extensively chemical inputs and then they wonder why their plants are not growing as much as they should. It’s better than you don’t go against what nature has intended and instead maximize the potentials of the soil. The soil test analysis will offer a better picture of what you need to introduce into the soil to achieve equilibrium.

1:2 Water Extract Method

The 1:2 water extract analysis, or one part air dry soil and two parts water, is a bit of departure from the typical 1:5 water extract. The latter method poses some disadvantages particularly by determining accurately the amount of phosphate in the soil as well as the amount of salt especially in soils where there’s high ratio of gypsum.  The 1:2 water extraction method, meanwhile, was developed by Japanese workers and used soil in field-moist conditions instead of the air dry soil. This method shows a much more accurate correlation of nutrients and minerals existing in the soil.

Binding Minerals

Amino acid chelate products help in improving the structure of the root and its ability to pierce dense or brackish soils. Most commercially available products are soluble by water which makes it very easy to apply (you can even introduce it through your sprinkler system). It’s best combined with the use of agricultural sulphur to lower the pH level of alkaline soils and encourage plant growth.

Key Differences between the Conventional and Organic Farming in South Africa

Even if neophyte farmers need to know the differences between conventional and organic farming in South Africa, however, you really can't achieve organic purity without encountering some challenges economically. Securing certification for pure organic farming is even challenging based on the ability of the farmer to document the process to prevent cross-pollination and testing. This is particularly difficult if your market is overseas where standards on organic produce are strictly followed.

Argument for Organic

Organic farming advocates will tell you that it's the way toward a more sustainable food security. More importantly, it's a way to help the environment as too much synthetic chemicals injected into the soil can't be good for the ecology. What most people probably don't know is that when referring to organic agriculture, it's not the absence of pesticides. It's using organic-based pesticides and natural inputs such as liquid sulphur, for instance, unlike conventional agriculture which uses synthetic fertilizers. It's also supposedly cheaper. Resourced-challenged communities, for example, can derive many benefits of buying various amino acids nutrient products for improving the soil rehabilitation and soil structure.

The market for organic products is also growing as more and more people are now conscious about the type of nutrients and chemicals in the food that they put into their own bodies.

Argument for Conventional Farming

Advocates of conventional farming will tell you that their method will result to a greater yield, which is ultimately the main purpose, right? First world countries know full well the benefits of genetically modified products and synthetic chemicals. In fact, a significant number of farmers claims that the use of GM reduced their dependence on chemical pesticides. On the flip side, developing countries like some parts of Africa found success in organic farming methods as well. One element of success when you look at successful models of organic farming is their closer attention to soil analysis. While it's best reserved for another topic, it's important that you research for innovative tips to know more about soil test analysis.

Maintaining Balance

Whether you go by conventional or organic method, however, there are benefits to buying various amino acid chelates and nutrient products for improve the soil rehabilitation and soil structure. You need to restore the balance of the soil through the judicious use of mineral inputs and other biological sources (plant nutrients). Here, the importance of soil analysis could not be underscored enough. It's the only way to know what is lacking in your soil to come up with a plan on how to rehabilitate it for optimal plant growth.