A Good Reputation Outweighs Any Trophy!

Vegetables are important cash crops with high yields and large fertilizer requirements. With the adjustment of national industrial policies, improving the quality of cultivated land, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, increasing agricultural product yields, and improving farmers' incomes have become important topics for agricultural workers and agricultural materials enterprises. In order to effectively protect cultivated land, correct unreasonable fertilization inputs, save fertilizer resources, enable farmers to save the most labor and effort, and obtain greater returns with less investment as much as possible, Hubei Yishizhuang Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. joined hands with the Changyang County Cultivated Land Quality and Fertilizer Management Station to develop special controlled-release fertilizers for vegetables in the fastest and most accurate way. In three years, the goals of experimentation, demonstration and promotion have been achieved, and the special controlled-release fertilizers for vegetables have been unanimously recognized by users and highly praised by experts.

Since 2017, the company has investigated and introduced the controlled-release technology of Japan's Interfarm Co., Ltd., invited Professor Ono Junji and Ms. Yang Nannan, the head of the Crop Nutrition Section, to give lectures at the company, jointly studied the formula of controlled-release fertilizers, and formulated initial experimental plans for crops such as vegetables, citrus, rapeseed and rice, laying a foundation for the research and application of controlled-release fertilizers.

In 2018, the company established a project research group for "Research and Application of Special Controlled-Release Fertilizers for Vegetables", with Chairman Liu Zufeng taking personal charge and assigning the company's technical specialists to implement it. Using imported Japanese controlled-release NPK coated single fertilizers, according to the company's special fertilizer formula, a 42% (18 - 8 - 16) special controlled-release fertilizer for vegetables with medium and trace elements and fulvic acid was prepared and carried out in small plot experiments in multiple places.

In 2019, based on the results of small plot experiments, the formula was revised and improved. Large plot experiments comparing with conventional fertilization were carried out in Changyang, Yichang, Lichuan, Enshi, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia and other places. Formal experiments with 5 treatments and three replicates were carried out, all achieving the effect of reducing fertilizer use and increasing production.

In 2020, the company mass-produced the finalized 42% (18 - 8 - 16) special controlled-release fertilizer for vegetables. Demonstrations of open-field and greenhouse peppers and tomatoes were carried out in Lichuan, Enshi, Zigui, Yichang, Changyang, Yichang and other places. More than 90 farmers and professional cooperatives applied it. After many rounds of on-site guidance and observation, 95% of users recognized the controlled-release fertilizer and planned to use it on a large scale next year. More than 60 demonstration WeChat groups for controlled-release fertilizers were established. Key technologies were released in the groups, and photos were shared among group members for mutual learning and communication. 15 technical lectures on controlled-release fertilizers were organized to let growers understand the technology and principles and guide more users to accept scientific fertilization methods. Six experimental reports on controlled-release fertilizers were successively published in journals such as China Agricultural Technology Extension, Hubei Agricultural Sciences, Yangtze Vegetables, and South China Agriculture, playing a role in expanding influence and guiding the application and promotion of controlled-release fertilizers.

On September 28, 2020, the Hubei Fertilizer Application Association organized experts from Huazhong Agricultural University, the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Hubei Cultivated Land and Fertilizer Work General Station, the Changyang County Agricultural Technology Extension Center and the Vegetable Research Institute to conduct on-site inspections of the special controlled-release fertilizer project for vegetables, visit farmers, listen to project reports, review relevant materials, and conduct project inquiries. After the review by the expert group, it was unanimously agreed to pass the project acceptance. It was believed that the special controlled-release fertilizer project for vegetables of Yishizhuang reached the domestic advanced level. The controlled-release fertilizer was determined as the core technology for improving the quality and efficiency of the vegetable industry, and it was recommended to increase the promotion efforts!

Fertilization Recommendations:

For open-field and greenhouse cultivation: According to practical results, it is recommended to apply 120 - 130 kg of controlled-release fertilizer plus 80 - 120 kg of bio-organic fertilizer per mu for peppers; for tomatoes, apply 140 - 150 kg of controlled-release fertilizer per mu, and apply 80 - 120 kg of bio-organic fertilizer in combination. Apply base fertilizer once without topdressing and no water-soluble fertilizer.