Improving Sugarcane with Polysulphate and Nutrivant

Antonio Siordia Barbosa is a sugar cane producer in Etzatlán, Jalisco, Mexico. He invited Tierra Fértil, an agricultural media company, and ICL fertilizer distributor, Campofino, to visit one of his sugarcane fields in the former Magdalena lagoon.

Boosting Sugarcane Yield

To demonstrate the importance of the correct crop nutrition for his sugarcane crop, Mex 79-431 (one of the most popular sugarcane varieties in Mexico), Antonio compared two fertilizer strategies. The first plot used a balanced fertilizer plan, while the second plot, just 100 m away, benefitted from an enhanced fertilizer plan using ICL crop nutrition products.

1. Control plot: The control fertilizer plan included a 16-16-16 granular fertilizer applied at 250 kg/ha. The yield expectations for this plot exceed 80 t/ha.
2. ICL plot: the plot with ICL treatments used the same 16-16-16 fertilizer, supplemented with an application of Polysulphate, ICL’s natural multi-nutrient fertilizer. In addition, the sugarcane received foliar application of ICL Nutrivant fertilizer.

While the soil conditions, the sowing time, and fertilizer application times were the same on both plots, Antonio Barbosa did observe a notable difference in the growth of the two crops.

The Polysulphate and Nutrivant Difference

Antonio Siordia Barbosa noticed that there were some significant improvements in the sugarcane fertilized with ICL’s Polysulphate and Nutrivant.

The green color is very distinctive. There is a big difference in the color of the sugarcane.

Some of the most visible improvements in the sugarcane where Polysulphate and Nutrivant were applied, according to Antonio, were:

• Increased root growth.
• More vigorous stems.
• Much more foliage, meaning more leaves for photosynthesis.
• Much greener leaves.

Antonio expects the sugarcane fertilized with Polysulphate and Nutrivant to exceed 120 t/ha, a yield increase of 40 t/ha over the control plot. This increase will be due to the plants’ greater mass and vigor, combined with the much higher population density.

What is Responsible for this Yield Increase?

According to Edgar Jiménez from Campofino, the addition of ICL’s Polysulphate and Nutrivant fertilizers is responsible for this yield increase.

Polysulphate

Polysulphate is exclusive to ICL. It is a 100% natural multi-nutrient fertilizer with a prolonged nutrient release of up to 90 days. This four-in-one fertilizer contains sulfur, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, all in the sulfate form. It has an incredibly low carbon footprint, as it is simply mined, crushed, and screened, ready for application. Polysulphate’s low processing and natural origins also make it suitable for use in organic agriculture in countries around the world.

Nutrivant

The Nutrivant range of foliar fertilizers offers a variety of fully soluble formulations that include macro and micronutrients. To help the nutrients penetrate the leaf cuticle, Nutrivant is enhanced with the most advanced and environmentally friendly adjuvant technology, Fertivant. Fertivant improves the distribution of nutrients over the leaf surface, improving foliar application efficiency and extending the nutrient absorption to more than three weeks.

Adding Polysulphate and Nutrivant to the sugarcane fertilizer strategy increases yield by 20-30%.

Applying Polysulphate at sowing and using foliar applications of Nutrivant as the crop grows, sugarcane producers like Antonio Siordia Barbosa can significantly improve their sugarcane yield. The actual increases will depend on the overall crop management, but Campofino’s Edgar Jiménez explains that, compared to the conventional fertilizer strategy, growers are seeing increases of 20-30% in yield.