A second tranche of Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (Agmardt) funding is enabling Edmeades to conduct four field trial plot studies on the fertiliser.
Initial Agmardt funding enabled laboratory experiments and glasshouse trials to be carried out by AgResearch. The results of this research work proved encouraging.
“The laboratory experiments confirmed the rate of nitrogen release from Smartfert is slower than that of urea, and that by adjusting manufacturing process, the release rates can be adjusted,” Edmeades said.
The initial results were reinforced with the glasshouse trials. The laboratory experiments established that in the absence of soil the product was confirmed as a control release nitrogen fertiliser.
The glasshouse trials following that work used ryegrass to establish and measure the rate of Smartfert’s nitrogen release.
The results were similar to those attained from the laboratory trials, and have established “proof of concept”, Edmeades said.
The upcoming field trials have been designed to quantify the rate of release and the amount of pasture produced from Smartfert application.
The trials would identify if nitrogen could therefore be applied once every three months, and if by better matching nitrogen release to plant uptake less nitrogen would have to be applied, Edmeades said.
The trials would also provide an indicator of nutrient-use efficiency with Smartfert application trials indicating the kilogram of drymatter grown per kilogram of nitrogen applied as the fertiliser.
Bruce Smith, managing director of Eko360, welcomed the trials’ progression on Smartfert, and the move to take the trials into a formal field trial assessment.
“Having the opportunity to now replicate these observations in onfarm field trials will provide confidence to the agricultural community that these products have a valued place in farm fertiliser programmes,” he said.
