Last July , a unexampled potassium nitrate / iodine fertilizer was introduced on the Dutch market place : Ultrasol ® ine K Plus from producer SQM . For many raiser , iodin is a Modern micronutrient , But the Wageningen Agricultural Service Laboratory for Fertilization Research list it a plant food as too soon as the 1960s . Originally retrieve in Chilean sodium nitrate , iodine has , however , disappeared into the background over time .
Ultrasol ® ine K Plus was tested on love apple crops in Morocco in December and January . append iodine lead inbetter - arise principal and progressively unvarying fruit per cluster . The cultivator in question could deliver nine percent more exportation - caliber fruits . In the photo : Roy Cornelis , SQM sales manager North , East , and West Africa .
That is why SQM again made a example for tincture of iodine that , since 2022 , has been internationally list as a ' useful nutrient , ' grouped with , among others , atomic number 34 , and silicon . Royal Brinkman ( the Netherlands ) and Anorel ( Belgium ) distribute Ultrasol ® ine K Plus .
Iodine is extracted after caliche deposit minerals are dissolved . That is also the source of the nitrate in potassium nitrate . The nitrate - sans tincture of iodine - is then purified of elements , and combined with potassium from Strategic Arms Limitation Talks sources , to form potassium nitrate .
Most of the iodine SQM excerption goes to industry , for deterrent example , to make contrast medium . Only three percentage is used for human food yield . Nine global production sites mean water - soluble NPK recipes can also be cut to local markets .
common salt Pan in Chile ’s Atacama Desert , where the Sunday crystallizespotassium or nitrate .
DogmaA 2021 scientific article touch things up again . Katja Hora , SQM International ’s Nitrates and Potassium Business Unit Research Manager , and Harmen Tjalling Holwerda , Senior Director of Business Development , co - authored the piece , write in Frontiers in Plant Science . The work , conducted by researchers at PlantLab in Pisa , Italy , used new proficiency to prove how iodine works in industrial plant .
" Iodine is considered of world importance for groups include humans , beast , germ , and fungus kingdom , but not crops , " Katja explains the reason for the report . " At SQM , we challenge that tenet . "
Ten days ago , iodine ’s role in industrial plant nutrition was analyzed . In 2021 , that result in a scientific publication ; in 2022 , another ( evidence for a Nutritional Role of Iodine in Plants , Kiferle et al . , 2021 ; 2022 ) followed . SQM did its own research , leading to another 2021 publication ( Examples of iodine as a micronutrient in plant , for melioration of the leading commercial nursery crops cultivation , Hora and Holwerda , 2021 ) .
Process acceleratorThe studies showed iodine ’s effect on crop . They grow quicker , realize higher yields , and quality increases . tincture of iodine also positively contributes to crop ' resistance to biotic and abiotic emphasis . However , scientist are not yet 100 % clear on exactly how iodine acts .
" works can oblige iodine to many vital proteins . In roots , those proteins are primarily involve in maturation ; in leaf , mainly in photosynthesis . Iodine lets plant processes run more efficiently . It seems to be peculiarly involve in communication between the plant life ’s cells and organs and between the industrial plant and the surroundings . industrial plant thus respond more cursorily to external signals , " say Katja .
Pie chart of Kiferle et al . 2021 research with thale cress plant .
Not loose , with potassium nitrateIntroducing Ultrasol ® ine K Plus to the market means growers are deliberately being introduced to iodine for the first time . This marrow is always naturally present in very low assiduity in the air , soil , and water . appraise iodine was and is still often not regularly done .
Is an I shortage problematic for plants ? An ever - louder ' yes ' scientist suffice now . Studies have repeatedly shown plants can make unspoilt role of iodine , which does them no scathe . " plant recognize tincture of iodine speedily , within 48 hours of immersion , and it does n’t do any stress . Adding atomic number 53 has overconfident effects . "
SQM by design opt to not bid iodine as a open product but in combination with Chilean potassium nitrate . " That makes it easy for cultivator to apply and is most toll - efficient compared to offering and administering iodine as a loose ware . agriculturalist do n’t have to interchange their alimentary solution ; just expend our potassium nitrate with iodine instead of potassium nitrate without iodine , " Katja continues .
Scientific lit shows iodine ’s limits . In in vitro plant cultivation , for example , a standard 5 micromol / L of iodine is mixed into the spiritualist in the so - promise Murashige - Skoog micronutrient mix . " agriculturist who stay between 5 and 10 micromol / cubic decimeter are ok . The crop can apply such grade well . "
No ' atomic number 11 danger’Nor take agriculturalist be interested about rising Na levels or EC . " I think those sodium limits are still often applied too tightly . But apart from that , adding Ultrasol ® ine K Plus does nothing to Na levels . There ’s always some Na in all types of potassium nitrate , even without adding iodine . We add that as K nitrate , which has no extra Na . Irrigation water is unremarkably the main source of Na , " add Katja .
Cherry love apple exam in Spain , without ( left ) and with ( right ) extra iodine tot .
Substrate ’s roleNo crop is really only I - free . " You ’ll always find very depressed concentrations of iodine . Probably at a level high enough to keep plants live but not high enough to fit those plants ' pauperization optimally . "
Growers might marvel what switching from , say , stone woolen to coir does to iodine levels . Do other substrate contain iodine , and is there a risk of atomic number 53 overdose in an constituent substrate ?
No , says Katja . She knows grower often do not measure iodine , nor do research laboratory routinely quiz for it , but growers want not worry . " lifelike substratum like coir contain I , but in a very bond form . The organic compounds immobilize the iodine , and it ’s not well released to the industrial plant unless you start combust the merchandise . "
Tests with Ultrasol ® ine K Plus in Mexico and Hungary in tomato and bell pepper crop produce on coir reassert that . There , drain weewee comprise no substrate - derive iodine , irrespective of the levels by design added via Ultrasol ® ine K Plus .
SQM found that in strawberry trials in California , where iodine was used as a micronutrient , it did not significantly increase the yield ’s iodine level .
Quantity , quality , and resistanceIn recent year , experiments where adding potassium nitrate with iodine have been done at 100 + growers in more than 20 nation . In most fount , those result in crops , include tomatoes , having an average ten percentage yield increase . Katja reverses that , showing what plants lack when iodine is absentminded . " The visitation show that costs them , on middling , nine pct , " she order .
Now , it is sure not always about volumes . Adding iodine also appears to contribute to product quality , such as storability , yield size , ° Brix degree , fruit uniformity on a clustering , or cut flowers ' stem turn duration and thickness . " agriculturalist describe few misformed fruit when using Ultrasol ® ine K Plus . Also , better timbre entail they can short export their product , whereas before they could n’t go because of inferior tone . "
One trial further found less nose decomposition go on in tomatoes and bell pepper . " That is a inadequacy symptom . To me , less nose moulder primarily think the plant can engross atomic number 20 better , for instance , through a larger radical system , " Katja explain .
In a trial in Brazil , the loot had great heads and improved root maturation ( pic right ) afterUltrasol ® ine K Plus was added .
valuate iodine separatelyMarket introduction in Europe began subsequently than in other neighborhood . That was due to raw European plant food regulations . SQM chose to wait to implement the latest regularisation before entering the marketplace with the correct labels . Eurofins Agro can already measure iodine in nutrient solutions , urine , waste pipe , and craw , Katja says .
Research is not focused on the Netherlands . The intellect is simple . " point nutrition is far more profitable outside the Netherlands . Though , it must be remembered that iodine is not a therapeutic - all . It works in such a way that you do n’t see a deficiency immediately , but when you add extra , you start to see the benefits , " Katja close .
For more information : Katja HoraSQMTel . : +32 ( 0 ) 320 39 737Mob . : +32 ( 0 ) 476 883 351Email:[email protected]www.sqmnutrition.com
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