Papers by Keyword: Fertilizer

Abstract: A study was conducted to evaluate the soil strength, physicochemical characteristics and yield of fluted pumpkin (Telfaira occidentalis) under different fertilizer sources in an Afisoil of Akure, Ondo State, Southwestern Nigeria. Four treatment, which include: Poultry manure (10 tom/ha), organomineral fertilizer (5 tom/ha), mineral fertilizer (5 tom/ha) and the control (0 fertilizer), replicated four times in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) were experimented in two blocks to make a total of 32 plots. Soil samples were collected randomly at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mm depths and analyzed to determine bulk density (BD), total porosity (PT), micro porosity (MIP) and macro porosity (MAP) following standard procedures. Plant parameters (plant height, number of leaves, stem girth and leave yield were measured weekly to determine response of fluted pumpkin to the different fertilizer sources. Results showed that the soil of the site is predominantly sandy clay loam. The pH of the soil under the different fertility treatment showed an increasing order of the form: mineral fertilizer (MF) < control (C) < Organic manure (OM) < organomineral fertilizer (OML) with values 4.26 < 4.96 < 5.46 < 5.5. Leaf yield of fluted pumpkin was highest in treatment plot that received mineral fertilizer when compared with other soil treatments. Fertlizer sources produced no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the height of fluted pumpkin. Result of this research is useful for local farmers and policy makers in the choice of appropriate soil amendment and management system for fluted pumpkin in the study area.

Abstract: Within the vast development of globalization, companies are encouraged to increase competitiveness level, in order to survive in the market. One certain way to stay competitive and retain customers is to provide such products with reasonable selling prices. Supply chain costs have a great influence upon the cost of the final product; therefore, companies are suggested to continuously improve supply chain processes regarding reducing overall costs. One industry indicated with high supply chain costs is the fertilizer industry, referring to the fact that it has a nationwide distribution system. For countries which regulate fertilizer as a subsidized product, companies must be able to provide fertilizer at an efficient price to maintain prevalence in the market. Currently, the problem faced by one of the fertilizer companies is an indication of expensive logistics costs for fertilizer distribution outside Java. The most expensive logistics costs are owned by the Medan area with variations in bulk transportation. This problem can be solved if there are alternative economic scenario designs in accordance with capabilities. The purpose of this research is to provide alternative scenarios, simulate those scenarios, and choose the most efficient scenario. The method used in this research is system dynamics and 12 scenarios were generated in this paper. Selection of the appropriate ship size and type of heavy equipment for loading and unloading cargo from those scenarios can impact in energy saving/fuel consumption and minimize operational costs. Beside cost, fertilizer deficit is also a consideration in scenario selection. From the result, scenario 3 has the lowest distribution costs with a total cost is Rp. 241,513 and the total fertilizer deficit is 0 tons, so scenario 3 is the selected alternative scenario to minimize operational cost.

Abstract: The high mobility of urea as a nitrogen nutrient in the soil leads to inefficient absorption by plants. Hence efforts to design a slow-release fertilizer (SRF) are significant. This paper reports the incorporation of urea fertilizer with carbon or zeolite in a bioplastic made of carboxymethyl cellulose as the matrix. The bioplastics were made by mixing the zeolite or activated carbon suspensions into a sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (Na-CMC) gel. Glycerol was then added as a plasticizer. Six variations of bioplastics were prepared, namely CMC-urea 0.5 and 1.0, CMC-urea-zeolite, CMC-urea-zeolite-glycerol, CMC-urea-activated carbon, and CMC-urea-activated carbon-glycerol. The weight ratio of CMC and urea fertilizer was kept constant at 2:1 since the resulted bioplastics showed higher texture transparency and homogeneity than those of bioplastics with a weight ratio of CMC to urea 1:1. The addition of zeolite increased the tensile strength of the bioplastics by about two times. While, the glycerol addition improved the elongation at break. The release of urea from the bioplastics was slower for bioplastics with zeolite than with activated carbon. The composite bioplastics may serve as a slow-release urea for agriculture.

Abstract: Biochar research has been gaining recent interest in agricultural applications because of its use as a soil amendment. Biochar is a porous carbonaceous solid produced from heat in the absence of any introduced oxygen (pyrolysis). It has relatively high surface area and slow-release properties that makes it suitable for fertilizer formulation. In this study, rice straw is used for biochar production using modified carbonizer at 600-650°C temperature range. After synthesis in the nanoscale level, the biochar produced was infused with nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. The morphological characteristics were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and energy dispersive Xray spectrometry (EDS). Nutrients were incorporated in the biochar and analysis revealed concentrations of 4.96% N, 3.46% P, 2.25% K, and 10.90% OM. The nanoscale biochar-based fertilizer was then applied into rice production. Rice grown in soil amended with nanoscale biochar-based fertilizer showed higher yield than control treatments but with comparable result from the inorganic fertilizer treatments. This implies that biochar can be used as an alternative to chemical based fertilizer when infused with the essential nutrients needed by plants. Furthermore, the soil amended with the nanoscale biochar-based fertilizer was also found to have a higher nutrient and organic matter content after harvest. Therefore, it could preserve the soil fertility which is beneficial in the long term.

Abstract: Bioplastic composites of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and N-P-K fertilizer have been prepared at various amount of N-P-K. The bioplastics were prepared by solvent casting the sol precursors containing 10 to 50% (wt.%) commercial N-P-K fertilizer powder in petri dishes. Characterization was done by using infrared spectrophotometer to access the functional groups, XRD to evaluate the crystalline phase, and universal testing machine to determine the mechanical properties. The nitrogen and phosphorus contents were determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometer, while the potassium content was determined by using atomic absorption spectrometer. The results show that the bioplastic composites of CMC/N-P-K fertilizer can be prepared up to 40% (wt.%) of N-P-K powder without losing its plasticity. The mechanical properties of the resulted bioplastic composites decrease at high content of N-P-K powder, with the highest at 25 wt.%. The uptake of nitrogen and phosphorous was not affected by the amount of the N-P-K powders precursor, but the potassium was. Various possible interactions between N-P-K powder and CMC matrix allow the resulting composite to function as a controlled release of N-P-K fertilizer.

Abstract: In the present study, the Fucus vesiculosus is considered as perspective feedstock for obtaining fertilizers and valuable biologically active compounds. Polyphenols (phlorotannin) and sulfated polysaccharide (fucoidan) were isolated using sequential extraction from the above-mentioned seaweed. The total content of polyphenolics in hydrophilic extracts is 680 GAE/g. The yield of fucoidan from brown algae was 7 % on the oven dry seaweed. The assessment of biological activity of Fucus vesiculosus was performed using germination test and vegetation test. The results of the tests revealed that the Fucus vesiculosus promotes the growth of the agricultural plants, is not phytotoxic, and has a good potential in sustainable agriculture

Abstract: Bioplastic composites based on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and urea have been successfully synthesised at various amount of zeolites. Urea inclusion into the bioplastics was supposed to result in nitrogen slow-release composites. The bioplastic composites were prepared by solvent casting the precursor gel containing 0.5 % (w/w) urea in CMC in the petri dishes. The zeolites content was varied at 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 % (w/w to CMC). It showed that the addition of zeolites to the bioplastic composites up to 0.5% increased their tensile strength. More addition of zeolites decreased the strain of the bioplastic composite. It could be due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between CMC and zeolites. The amount of urea absorbed in the bioplastics increased as the amount of zeolites increases. It is possibly to be due to the strong interaction between urea and zeolites. The ammonium ions may interact with interchangeable cations in the zeolite. This interaction will also extend the time for the bioplastics to biodegrade. The presence of zeolites in the CMC polymer chains is useful to give nitrogen slow-release composites.

Abstract: This work demonstrates a simple, reproducible and scalable method of producing a potential slow-release fertilizer material. In this study, oxalate-phosphate-amine metal organic frameworks (OPA-MOFs) powder was synthesized from the hydrothermal treatment of ferric chloride (FeCl3•6H2O), orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4), oxalic acid dihydrate (H2C2O4•2H2O), and a common fertilizer, urea (CO(NH2)2). Being a structure directing agent (SDA)-type of MOF, the material is expected to slowly release urea via cation exchange, and eventually trigger the collapse of the framework, thus resulting to the subsequent release of the phosphates and iron-oxalate complexes. Elemental analysis revealed that the synthesized samples contains a promising amount of incorporated nitrogen and phosphorus. In this particular study, increasing in the amount of urea during the synthesis however revealed minimal change in the %N in the final product which tells us that maximum loading has already been achieved. P and N release experiments shall still be done both in vitro and in actual soil samples to monitor the release delivery kinetics and efficiency of the OPA-MOFs for fertilizer release applications.

Abstract: Nanotechnology has gained interest due to their wide applications. Nanocomposites are used in energy storage, water treatment, disease diagnosis, drug delivery system, food processing, health monitoring, pest detection and control, agricultural productivity and enhancement. In the present era, bulk use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides results loss in soil diversity and developed resistance against pathogens and pests. In the present chapter, we reviewed the role of nanocomposites in agriculture to reduce the burden of fertilizers and pesticides.

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to study water retention properties of superabsorbent hydrogel based on poly (acrylamide)/biofiller hydrogel and urea liquid fertilizer, by solution polymerization. Kenaf fiber (KF) was used as biofiller and the preparation of the poly (acrylamide)-grafted-kenaf fiber (PAAm-g-KF) hydrogel was carried out by polymerizing the monomer. Urea fertilizer was employed as polymerization media. N,N’-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) was used as a crosslinker and ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator. Water retention of the hydrogel was studies in soil with three different samples (Controlled, PAAm Hydrogel, PAAm-g-KF). The PAAm-g-KF was also applied to agricultural field. The results show that PAAm-g-KF greatly improved water retention in the soil and agricultural field.