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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 the 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 10kg / 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 spent for drip
and sprinkler irrigation for several horticultural crops and the use
and practice of drip irrigation is increasing considerably.
However, the conventional fertilizers comprising sulphur or
sulphur plus bentonite mixtures cannot be applied through drip
irrigation as the particle size of these compositions are large and
the 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.