INIA works to develop foliar fertilizer using nanotechnology

It is a pioneering initiative in Chile executed by the Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) and funded by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT).

“Nanotechnology refers to the design and use of nanomaterials for industrial, medical or scientific purposes, among others, where a nanoparticle is equivalent to one billionth of a meter and could be represented as a tennis ball compared to the entire planet Earth". This is how Dr. Jaime Mejías explained, the technology that is being used by the Agricultural Research Institute (INIA), in the development of a foliar application fertilizer (in the leaves) to enhance livestock production and crops in the southern zone of Chile.

Marta Alfaro, National Deputy Director of R&D of INIA, on a recent trip to the south of our country, announced the scope of this initiative. "In this visit to INIA Remehue we have been working to discuss the progress of the Fondecyt 1180775 project, which aims to develop a new fertilizer that can be used as a foliar application, for grasslands and crops in the south of the country, using nanotechnology," he explained. .

Alfaro added that “what we are looking for with the project, using this technology, is to generate a fertilizer that is highly efficient, which at low doses applied at the foliar level can generate the same productive impact as with 3 or 4 times the dose of the traditional fertilizer that they use the producers ”. He added that "this is because these soils are high in organic matter content and, therefore, the use of traditional fertilizers to the soil is very inefficient and can potentially cause losses to the environment."

“The development of this product –which we are halfway through- can mean a tremendous impact for agricultural producers in the southern part of Chile, because it would allow them to save on fertilizers, in economic terms, while maintaining production in grasslands and crops , and at the same time reduce the potential environmental impact that the activity has on both water and air ”, concluded Marta Alfaro.

Source
INIA

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