Jersey Royal Company boosts yields by switching to controlled release fertiliser

Switching to a controlled release fertiliser (CRF) has boosted the Jersey Royal Company’s yields by eight per cent, the potato grower has reported. The Agromaster CRF fertiliser, which the firm substituted for a standard nitrogen fertiliser in trials last spring, also minimised leaching – the loss of plant nutrients from the soil, due to rain and irrigation. Manufactered by ICL Speciality Fertilisers, the replacement fertiliser was applied to half of the six hectare field trial are at a rate of 180 kg of nitrogen per hectare. The other half of the test site was sprayed with a standard fertiliser, with both added two days before planting. “When we monitored the crop, the earlier digs didn’t show much of a difference between the untreated control and the CRF-treated potatoes,” said technical manager Ryan Stone. “But after 12 weeks, the difference was clear and we saw up to eight per cent yield increase in some fields.” More