Protection of nutritional units
Nutrients distributed to crops are often not absorbed by plants because of various kind of losses (such as leaching, precipitation, insolubility and evaporation) making farmers spend more in order to restore nutrients in the crops and restore soil productivity. The highly humified organic matrices of UNIMER fertilizers are able to contrast those phenomena and let the plant lead the nutrient exchanges.
Thanks to the presence of functional groups of humic and fulvic acids, stable bonds with the mineral components can be established: the integration between organic and mineral components stabilizes the fertilizer further over time thus allowing:
- high and prolonged nutritional availability;
- reduction of losses;
- rationalization of the fertilization technique thanks to the high nutritional efficiency;
- better environmental sustainability due to the lower use of fertilizing units.
The plant thus manages the absorption of the necessary elements, separating them from the humic complex that protects them, through the emission of radical exudates: the nutritional ions are released directly from the plant, which becomes the protagonist of the exchanges, favoring the maximum efficiency of the nutritional units, for the best possible assimilation.
| Main macroelements supplied with fertilizers – uptake percentage by crops – indicative values | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FERTILIZER | NITROGEN (N) | PHOSPHORUS (P2O2) | POTASSIUM (K2O) |
| Mineral fertilizer | 40 – 60% | 10 – 20% | 30 – 60% |
| Organo-mineral fertilizer based on humified peat | 60 – 80% | 30 – 40% | 65 – 75% |
| Organo-mineral fertilizer based on humified dried poultry manure | 50 – 70% | 25 – 35% | 55 – 65% |
| Organo-mineral fertilizer based on non-composted poultry manure, leather, meat meal and vinasse | 60 – 80% N org. 40 – 60% N min. | 10 -20% | 30 – 60% |
Source: A. Benedetti, S. Canali – Experimental Institute for Plant Nutrition – Rome (Terra e Vita – 1996)
| Main macroelements supplied with UNIMER fertilizers – uptake percentage by crops- indicative value | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FERTILIZER | NITROGEN (N) | PHOSPHORUS (P2O2) | POTASSIUM (K2O) |
| Mineral fertilizer | 40 – 60% | 10 – 20% | 30 – 60% |
| UNIMER organo-mineral fertilizers | 50 – 80% | 25 – 40% | 55 – 75% |
Climate change mitigation
Agricultural activities heavily depend on weather conditions; adding the climatic effects related to global warming to the normal climate variations, the uncontrollable variables for the farmer increase significantly.
Many global strategies, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Roadmap to an EU Resource Efficient Europe, have recognized that organic matter is essential to ensure healthy and productive soils, to mitigate climate change and protect biodiversity. They indicate among the possible solutions to climate change the improvement of soil-management practices through the increment of the intake of organic matter to preserve soil’s humidity, and the adjustment of agricultural operations timing, such as planting, seeding and timing of fertilizer’s application.
Because of their properties, UNIMER fertilizers, which are rich in humified organic carbon, represent a valid response to climate change for the farmer who use them. Indeed, he can rely on a greater availability of the nutrients distributed in the soil, protected by humified organic substance.