The inorganic fertilizers has increased crop yields imcluding paddy, vegetable, oil plms and rubber.It has been reported(1) that zeolite could imptove the fertility of the soils.
Many fruit and vegetables crops are grown on light free draining soils. Whilst drainage is important to prevent many root diseases it also leads to rapid leaching of nutrients away from the root zones of plants.
These nutrients are important for good plant growth and high yields. Most important of these nutrients are nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) and to a lesser degree calcium, magnesium and trace elements.
The typical approach to growing crops has been to apply high rates of fertiliser to overcome the losses due to leaching. This is both expensive and inefficient as well as environmentally damaging.
The role of zeolite
Zeolite can hold nutrients in the root zone for more plants to use when required. This leads to more efficient use of N and K fertilisers - either less fertiliser for the same yield or the same amount of fertiliser lasting longer and producing higher yields.
An added benefit of zeolite application is that unlike other soil amendments (gypsum and lime) it does not break down over time but remains in the soil to help improve nutrient retention. With subsequent applications the zeolite will further improve the soil's ability to retain nutrients and produce improved yields.
And zeolite is not acidic. In fact it is marginally alkaline and its use with fertilisers can help buffer soil pH levels thus reducing the need for lime applications.
