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Presently, sulphur is typically blended with other
granular fertilizers such as phosphates, nitrates,
urea and potash among others to provide it in a
form suitable for application to the soil. Sulphur is
available commercially as prills, soluble sulphur
liquids, wettable powders and micronized powders.
These compositions are then applied to the soil by
various means such as broadcasting or banding to
supply the soil with sulfur, as well as additional
nutrients found in granular fertilizers.
One problem associated with the use of these
conventional compositions is that they need to be
applied in very high dosages. The applicable
dosage of these conventional compositions per acre
is very high and can extend from about 10 kg / acre
for Sulphur bentonite compositions to about 25 kg
per acre for Sulphate based fertilizers and goes all
the way to more than 100 kg/acre in case of gypsum.
Also since these conventional compositions are
used in high dosages there is an increased
possibility of leaching in the soil making it
unavailable to the plant for uptake. Large amount
of money is being spend for drip and sprinkler
irrigation for several horticulture crops and the use
and practice of drip irrigation is increasing
considerably. However, the conventional fertilizers
comprising sulphur or sulpbur plus bentonite
mixture cannot be applied through drip irrigation
as the particle size of these compositions are large
and particles do not disperse in water, causing
nozzle clogging in the irrigation equipment and
resulting in a non-homogenous tank mixture at the
time of application. These conventional
compositions such as pellets and wettable powders
do not exhibit uniform suspension resulting in
uneven coverage on the plant and thereby affecting
and minimizing the bio-efficacy of the product. They
also need to be applied two to three months in
advance so as to ensure timely conversion to
sulphate and its uptake by the plant for which there
is additional application and cost. Conventionally,
acids such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid and/or
phosphoric acid and ammonia (anhydrous) are
used to produce these conventional fertilizers. The
use of these chemicals creates a potentially
hazardous environment for production of the
fertilizer. In developing countries, these chemicals
may be less available with the consequence that
fertilizer must be imported at a considerable
expense and crop yields are reduced in areas where
food is most needed.