Agricultural soil is a fundamental component of the agricultural ecosystem, an ecological structure created by man in which one or a few plant species are developed which, following agronomic interventions, provide a production that can be evaluated in economic terms.
Soil plays a vital role in the Earth’s ecosystem and are essential for human life. The most widely recognized function of soil is its support for food production. It is the foundation for agriculture and the medium in which nearly all food-producing plants grow. Healthy soils supply the essential nutrients, water, oxygen and root support that our food-producing plants need to grow and flourish. Soils also serve as a buffer to protect delicate plant roots from drastic fluctuations in temperature. Furthermore, the soil also performs hidden and less evident functions, ecosystem services like storing, filtering and transforming nutrients, substances and water, biodiversity pool, such as habitats, species and genes, physical and cultural environment for humans and human activities, source of raw materials and storage of carbon.
Soils are fundamental to life on Earth but human pressures and intensive agriculture practices on soil are reaching critical limits. Careful soil management is one essential element of sustainable agriculture and also provides a valuable lever for climate regulation and a pathway for safeguarding ecosystem services and biodiversity.
Soil fertilization acts directly on the soil and can improve its fertility, which is the ability of a soil to sustain plant development by providing essential plant nutrients and favorable chemical, physical, and biological characteristics as a habitat for plant growth.
Fertile and productive soils are vital components of stable societies because they ensure growth of plants needed for food, fiber, animal feed and forage, industrial products, energy and for an aesthetically pleasing environment. Food security depends on soil fertility. Good management of soil fertility can help reduce soil, water and air pollution, regulate water resources availability, support a diverse and active biotic community, increase vegetation cover and allows for carbon neutral footprint.
HELLO NATURE PRODUCTS FOR SOIL FERTILIZATION
ORGANIC AND ORGANO-MINERAL FERTILIZERS directly provide essential macro and micronutrients that plants use in order to grow and thrive. Organic fertilizers gradually release elements, so that nutrients are available with a rhythm that ensures the optimal absorption by the plant, decreasing nitrogen loss by leaching. Organic fertilizers providing organic matter and useful microorganisms (PGPR) also improve physical and biological characteristics of soil (structure, water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity, buffering capacity avoiding insolubilization of nutrients) and reduce soil erosion. Organic matter in the soil is important for climate stabilization. In fact, global soils contain 2 to 3 times more carbon than the atmosphere. The carbon stored in the soil contributes to stabilize the climate but also to ensure food security. Besides, there are numerous benefits to using Hello Nature organic fertilizers and having a relatively high stable organic matter level in an agricultural soil. These benefits can be grouped into three categories:
Physical Benefits
- Enhanced aggregate stability, improved water infiltration and soil aeration, reduced runoff.
- Improved water holding capacity.
- Reduced stickiness of clay soils making them easier to till.
- Reduced surface crusting, facilitating seedbed preparation.
Chemical Benefits
- Increased soil’s CEC (Cation exchange capacity) and its ability to hold onto and supply over time essential nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and potassium.
- Improved ability of a soil to resist pH change; this is also known as buffering capacity
- Accelerated decomposition of soil minerals over time, making the nutrients in the minerals available for plant uptake.
Biological Benefits
- Provide food for the living organisms in the soil.
- Enhanced soil microbial biodiversity and activity
- Enhanced pore space through the actions of soil microorganisms. This helps to increase water infiltration and reduce runoff.
BIOSTIMULANTS: many of our biostimulants are suitable for soil fertilization and are complementary solutions that find space within a specific fertilization plan. In fact, although biostimulants, unlike fertilizers, do not directly provide nutrients to plants, they can improve the efficiency of use of traditional fertilizations, increase the availability of nutrients confined in the soil or in the rhizosphere and therefore improve the overall fertility of the soil. These biostimulant actions ultimately lead to an increase in productivity and crop quality.
Our microbial biostimulants containing mycorrhizal fungi (Rhizoglomus irregulare, Funneliformis mossae), rhizosphere bacteria (Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria – PGPR), Trichoderma atroviride increase nutrient availability for plants and nutrient use efficiency, solubilizing soil nutrients and increasing root absorption area. Our vegetal protein hydrolysates biostimulants containing Plant stimulating peptides (PSP) of 100% vegetal origin, increase nutrient bioavailability in the soil and stimulate rhizogenesis of plants increasing root absorption and nutrient assimilation processes at the cellular level.
Most of our biostimulants are also suitable for fertigation, which is a method to reduce soil compaction caused by heavy machines in the field with benefits for soil fertility. Besides, it permits to control rate, time and place of application increasing soil fertility avoiding nutrient excess and minimizing environmental impact.
Hello Nature proposes an integrated approach to soil fertilization to ensure optimal crop growth and at the same time keep agricultural soils alive and healthy, applying sustainable solutions: organic fertilizers, vegetal derived plant biostimulants and beneficial microbials. |
