Cultivating sandy soil is a promising solution to overcome the fight against hunger especially in the developing countries. The main problems of sandy soil are moisture holding capacity and nutrients deficiency. A containers experiment was carried out to study the enhancement of water productivity and crop yield of sandy soils treated with clay. The container size was 31 x 15 x 60 cm with one t...

Introduction Interest in organic production methods for vegetables continues to increase. Production practices for organic field production of vegetables have a long history, but practices to grow organic vegetable transplants in a spring greenhouse are poorly known. Organic fertilizers and composts are available but the efficacy and rates for use have not been evaluated. Experiments in the sum...

Application of polymer-coated controlled-release fertilizers (CRF) during outplanting has resulted in variable growth responses in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Results have been linked to several factors, including soil moisture availability. Multiple experiments were designed to examine the influence of CRF on Douglas-fir seedling root architectural development and establishment. Placement of ...

Recent scientific data indicate that nanotechnology has the potential to positively impact the agrifood sector, minimizing adverse problems of agricultural practices on environment and human health, improving food security and productivity (as required by the predicted rise in global population), while promoting social and economic equity. In this context, we select and report on recent trends ...

A hydrophilic macromolecular network is prepared by performing graft copolymerization of poly (sodium acrylate) chains onto salep and silica gel. The reaction parameters affecting the water absorbency of the superabsorbent composite were optimized using Taguchi method. FT-IR spectroscopy and Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) were used for confirming the s...

The composting industry has been growing rapidly in China because of a boom in the animal industry. Therefore, a rapid and accurate assessment of the quality of commercial organic fertilizers is of the utmost importance. In this study, a novel technique that combines near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy with partial least squares (PLS) analysis is developed for rapidly and accurately assessing comm...

The activity concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides K, Ra and Th have been measured in different brands of fertilizer samples in Saudi Arabia using sodium iodide gamma spectrometry. The results of measurements showed that the mean (ranges) of specific activities for Ra, Th and K activities in the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are 64 (35.8 120.7), 17 (3.2 56.8) and 2...

In many parts of the world food security is at risk. One of the biophysical root causes of falling per-capita food production is the declining quality and quantity of soils. To reverse this trend and increase soil fertility soil and plant nutrients have to be replenished. This review provides a literature survey of experiences of using multi-nutrient rock fertilizers for soil fertility enhancem...

Urine contains about 50 % of the phosphorus (P) and about 90 % of the nitrogen (N) excreted by humans and is therefore an interesting substrate for nutrient recovery. Source-separated urine can be used to precipitate struvite or, through a newly developed technology, nitrified urine fertilizer (NUF). In this study, we prepared (33)P radioisotope- and stable (15)N isotope-labeled synthetic NUF (...

An inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) method was developed for the determination of phosphorus in fertilizers. Total phosphorus, direct extraction available phosphorus (EDTA), and water-soluble phosphorus, reported as phosphorus pentoxide (P205), in 15 Magruder check fertilizers were measured by ICP-AES, and the results were compared with those obtained by the AOA...