Usable Phosphorus
In the May, 2022 edition of the publication Crop Life, a webinar recap article discussed the availability of the element phosphorus (P) in soil. This webinar was presented by "Novozymes Bio Ag." The Novozymes Bio Ag company was founded in 2000 as a spin-out from the pharmaceutical company Nvvo Nordisk. In 2014, Novozymes formed an alliance with Monsanto to search for biological solutions to various agricultural production problems. That alliance was dissolved when Monsanto was purchased by Bayer, and Novozymes presented this data as a stand alone company.
The subject of this webinar is the availability of the element P in the soil environment. This webinar centered on the fact that a "crop's yield potential is not realized without phosphate." However, getting P available when the plant needs it is a huge challenge because of agronomic and regulatory issues. The webinar contends that 90% of P becomes unavailable in the year it is applied. Also, data from the webinar contends North American prairie soils on average contain about 1,000 pounds of P per acre, but P is still applied to more than 90% of North American row crops. They say this is so because even if there is a lot of P in the soil, it's not available to the crop.
As an answer for the P availability issue, Novozymes is presenting a biological solution. The proposed biological solution is adding a strain of fungus to the soil which has the ability to release available P that is present in the soil. The use of a strain of fungus for this solution tries to initiate the strains of mycorrhizae that are important for P uptake by the plant. The approach of improving P availability in the soil through a biological approach is very credible, but certain flaws in the approach need to be discussed.
Some experienced microbiologists contend applying microbiological species that are foreign to a soil profile works poorly due to the competitiveness of the native soil microbes. The approach of Growers Mineral, Corp. tries to create an environment in the soil that allows the current population of mycorrhizae to perform to its maximum ability. This type of environment occurs by using balanced and quality elements in GMS. This environment is also encouraged by maintaining proper soil oxidation parameters which is improved by proper calcium (Ca) concentration in the soil.
Another big benefit to using balanced and pure forms of elements to help improve P availability occurs because producers many times are placing crops and additives in low or cold temperature environments where the soil's microbiological life will not function. Thus, the added biological product (which many times includes a microbe) will not have a warm enough environment in order to function. Whereas if those clean and balanced nutrients are applied correctly, they can be used by the seed or plant for early season growth while waiting for the soil temperature to get high enough to allow the soil's microbiological life to function correctly.
The agricultural establishment is starting to realize that economically and environmentally correct plant production must consider the soil's microbiological phase.
This is an excerpt from the Late Fall Growers Solution (2022) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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