Background fertilization for growing broccoli

The background fertilizer consists of incorporating said fertilizer into the soil shortly before or at the time of sowing or planting. / FILE

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Valencia Fruits. Drafting.

Broccoli is one of the horticultural crops that is gaining ground worldwide, and that also presents a growing trend of consumption. Currently around 50,000 hectares are cultivated in Spain, with an annual production of 600,000 tons, with Murcia in the first place, and the Ebro valley in second, the main producing areas.

One of the successes for the production and profitability of the crop is fertilization. The nutritional needs of broccoli are quite high, since it grows best in fertile soils. In addition, by having a relatively short duration (generally between 70 and 100 days), it means that the contribution of the subscriber has to be fast so that the nutrients are available when the crop needs them.

Background fertilizer

One way to facilitate the access of fertilizers to the crop and minimize the risk of yield loss caused by nutrient deficiencies is through a fertilization program that includes a deep application of compost, but how does this compost methodology work? The bottom fertilizer is when the amount of compost is incorporated into the soil shortly before or at the time of sowing or planting. In perennial crops the fertilizer is incorporated before the start of the annual vegetative cycle. Of course, you have to be especially careful with nitrogen, since it is a very mobile element in the soil and has a high risk of being lost to the environment.

Thus, it is very important to provide a supply of nutrients to the broccoli crop that meets its needs in order to achieve a good yield and guarantee the profitability of the crop.

Fertilizers with technology

For this reason, it is advisable to make the bottom fertilizer with fertilizers with technology, such as ENTEC®, which, thanks to the action of the nitrification inhibitor, allows us to be more efficient with nitrogen and reduce losses to the environment. With ENTEC® the activity of bacteria of the genus is delayed Nitrosomonas, responsible for the transformation of ammonium (NH₄⁺) to nitrate (NO₃^–). Nitrogen is fully available to plants from its application, but remains in the soil in the form of ammonia for a longer period of time and this minimizes the risk of loss due to washing.

ENTEC® fertilization practices that include the combination of bottom fertilization + fertigation have been studied by EuroChem in collaboration with research centers and universities in recent years. As an example, in 2019, the CAJAMAR foundation experimentation center in Paiporta carried out a trial to compare conventional fertigation systems (100%) with background fertilizer strategies with ENTEC® (35%) and fertigation (65%) in the broccoli cultivation. The practice with bottom fertilizer with ENTEC® + fertigation was the one that achieved the highest yield (2,140 kg / ha), improving the final production by 5% (Figure 1). In addition, another interesting fact is that it was possible to advance production. Background fertilization with ENTEC® increased early broccoli production by 51% compared to conventional fertigation.

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