Background
In a potato farm in Avila region in Spain, the application of OCC colloidal nutrients on VITALIA variety potato in 2018 illustrated the impact of colloidal nutrient’s benefits in sustainable agriculture.
Three treatments were applied to compare the performance of colloidal nutrients against a neighbouring plot with standard cultivation practice. Applications were in combinations of pesticides on May 2018 over an interval of around 15 days. On the colloidal plots, there was a reduction in various dosages of pesticides due to the enhanced efficacy of colloidal nutrients in the delivery of active compounds. In all cases, adjuvants were also introduced to complement the pesticides. On the standard plots, chemical pesticides were applied following the label’s recommendation. The table below illustrates the rate of reduction of various pesticides.
Results
There were two standard plots. One yielded 40 tons per hectare, while the other yielded 45 tons per hectare. The colloidal plot achieved a yield result of 62 tons per hectare with selective pesticides reduction. The cost savings from pesticide reduction was more than enough to cover for the cost of colloidal nutrients, which stood at €20 per hectare for all three applications over the harvest cycle and improve the yield for the farmers by between 38% to 55%.
