Foliar spray is a method of applying nutrients or other agricultural spray products directly to the leaves of plants. The nutrients are absorbed directly through the leaf cuticle and epidermal cell walls into the leaves. Foliar sprays allow for efficient delivery of nutrients to the plant leaves without disturbing the roots. Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients like iron and manganese can be supplied to plants through foliar spray.
Benefits of Foliar Spray Industry
Foliar spraying offers several advantages over traditional soil application methods:
- Immediate availability: Nutrients absorbed through leaves are available to plants immediately for photosynthesis and growth. This is much faster than waiting for nutrients to be taken up by roots from soil.
- Higher efficiency: Foliar application has a higher efficiency of nutrient use compared to soil application since it minimizes leaching and fixation losses in soil. Up to 90% of the applied nutrients may be absorbed by leaves.
- Supplies seasonal deficiencies: Nutrient deficiencies occurring during certain growth stages can be efficiently supplemented through foliar sprays even when soil application may not be practical.
- Boosts yield and quality: Timely foliar sprays boost photosynthesis,chlorophyll production and blossom set, leading to higher crop yields and better quality produce. Nutrients sprayed at critical growth stages have shown 10-15% increases in crop production.
- Effective for immobile nutrients: Certain micronutrients like iron, manganese, and zinc are not readily mobile in plants and inefficiently taken up from soil by roots. Foliar sprays ensure adequate supplies of these immobile nutrients.
- Faster plant response: Symptoms of deficiency are corrected much faster through foliar applicationas the response time is only a few days compared to 2-3 weeks through soil application.
Key Nutrients Used in Foliar Spraying
Nitrogen: Nitrogen is the most commonly used nutrient for Foliar Spray due to its quick corrective effects on plant growth and coloring. Urea and nitrate forms are commonly used.
Phosphorus: Soluble phosphates like phosphoric acid are used for foliar P nutrition in many row crops, fruits and vegetables to boost blooming and fruit set.
Potassium: Potassium nitrate and potassium sulphate are widely used K sources for foliar sprays in several crops. They improve drought tolerance, disease resistance and quality.
Micronutrients: Secondary and micronutrients like magnesium, calcium, sulphur, iron, manganese, zinc and boron play critical roles in plant biochemical processes. Deficiencies are effectively managed through foliar application.
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