Functional fertilizers are capable of promoting root growth and maintenance, enhancing coloring and sweetness, and improving stress resistance and frost prevention. With the continuous advancement of agricultural technology, functional fertilizers are being increasingly widely applied in agricultural production. This article will introduce the basic concept, classification, functions, and development prospects of functional fertilizers.
Functions of Functional Fertilizers
Functional fertilizers play multiple roles in agricultural production, as demonstrated in the following aspects:
1. Soil Improvement
Currently, China's agriculture is facing severe soil problems. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has repeatedly emphasized the promotion of organic fertilizers, and the most popular soil improvement products in the market are mainly bio-organic fertilizers and fertilizers containing mineral-source fulvic acid potassium. Competition in the bio-organic fertilizer market is becoming increasingly fierce, and enterprises are making great efforts to improve product quality. At present, there are two main development trends for bio-organic fertilizers: First, the microbial count is getting higher and higher. The national standard requires a minimum of 200 million, and now many enterprises are increasing the microbial count, with some even reaching over 1 billion. Second, the organic matter content is also continuously rising, ranging from 70% to over 90%.
2. Root Growth Promotion and Maintenance
The quality of root growth is closely related to soil conditions. Good soil quality naturally leads to well-developed and robust root systems. Therefore, fertilizers that improve soil quality can be used for root growth promotion and maintenance, such as bio-organic fertilizers and water-soluble fertilizers containing humic acid. In addition, biostimulants, mineral-source fulvic acid potassium, fish protein, seaweed extracts, and chitosan oligosaccharides can also be used for this purpose.
3. Coloring and Sweetness Enhancement
This is also an important aspect that deserves our attention. Currently, the main products used for coloring and sweetness enhancement on the market include high-potassium fertilizers, astaxanthin, amino acid extracts such as γ-aminobutyric acid and 5-aminolevulinic acid, seaweed extracts, fish protein, and medium and trace elements like calcium, magnesium, and boron. Their biggest feature is that they achieve better results when used in combination.
4. Stress Resistance and Frost Prevention
There are two principles for frost resistance: First, increasing photosynthesis. Using some black fertilizers, such as mineral-source fulvic acid, to absorb more heat and enhance heat preservation capacity. Second, using fish protein and seaweed extracts, especially fish protein, which is rich in unsaturated fatty acids that can release heat to prevent the cell sap inside plants from freezing, thereby avoiding damage to cell walls and the formation of purple spots.
5. Economic Benefit Enhancement
Although functional fertilizers are slightly more expensive than ordinary chemical fertilizers, they can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, cut production costs and labor input, and thus increase farmers' economic benefits due to their ability to improve crop resistance and yield, improve the soil environment, and enhance fertilizer utilization efficiency.
In general, as a new type of agricultural production material, functional fertilizers have broad application and development prospects. With the continuous progress of science and technology and the development of agricultural production, it is believed that functional fertilizers will play a greater role in agricultural production in the future and make greater contributions to the sustainable development of agriculture.
