Acidic Boost for Crop Yield
The use of fulvic and humic acids to increase yield is one of the low-hanging fruits within the grasp of food crop producers in Africa.
By Eric Peters
Every year, food insecurity in Africa is growing alarmingly as demand outstrips supply. This implies that the continent cannot produce sufficient food for itself. Climate change has worsened the situation, as most food production relies on rain-fed agriculture.
Supply Chain Uncertainty
Unfortunately, meeting the shortfall through imports from other regions is no longer a certainty, as global supply chain disruptions have shown, particularly in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Currently, there is a high global demand for grains from other regions, and Africa is lower in terms of priority destinations.
Even worse, the increasing prices of fertilizers and pesticides have made crop production expensive.
Therefore, unsurprisingly, Africa has missed Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Access to nutritious, safe, and sufficient food for all of the continent’s population). Clearly, this calls for the exploration of alternative options to boost available resources.
Embracing Innovative Solutions
Fascinatingly, there is growing recognition of humic and fulvic acids as biostimulants that can enhance crop production. This is based on growing evidence that humic and fulvic acids improve crop yield, quality, and stress tolerance.
Findings of Research
Research findings underscoring the efficacy of humic acids and fulvic acids in crop production have been extensively documented. Dr. Hugo Opperman, Manager at Omnia Specialties, provides insight on the subject in his analysis, “Humic and Fulvic Acid Substances in Agriculture” (Feb 2023).
What Opperman illustrates is that humic and fulvic acids can offer immense benefits in crop production through their unique features, corroborating other findings on the subject.
Features
Humic Acids
Typically, humic acids have the following characteristics:
- Large molecular size and carbon (humic substances) constitute 50-70% of the total molecular weight.
- Lower chemical reactivity (lower degree of oxidation) than fulvic acids.
- Hydrophobic (less soluble in water).
Fulvic Acids
Fulvic acids are known for the following characteristics:
- Smallest and with low molecular weight.
- They are more soluble in water than humic acids.
- They are yellow to brown/amber in colour.
- More easily absorbed by plant roots.
Applications of Humic and Fulvic in a Soil Environment
Humic and fulvic acids are enjoying wide application in crop production, particularly in the following areas:
- Soil amelioration and improvement: Humic acids can enhance soil structure, nutrient availability, and water retention, making them valuable for soil improvement.
- Improving aggregate stability and soil structure: By interacting with soil minerals like clay minerals, humic acids improve aggregate stability, creating a more porous soil structure that enhances moisture and nutrient retention, as well as root growth and aeration.
- Enhancing soil microorganism activity: Humic acids and fulvic acids can enhance the activity of beneficial soil microorganisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing bacteria, by providing energy and nutrients for their growth.
- Binding and retaining nutrients: Humic acids can bind and retain nutrients like potassium, calcium, and magnesium, releasing them to plant roots as needed.
- Immobilization and detoxification: Fulvic acids play a role in immobilizing and detoxifying pollutants and heavy metals in soil, binding and removing these metals from the soil solution.
- Reducing plant pathogens: Fulvic acids can reduce the abundance of plant pathogens and other harmful organisms.
- Retention and release of nutrients and essential elements: Fulvic acids play a key role in retaining and releasing nutrients and other essential elements.
Massive Benefits
The benefits of humic and fulvic acids are massive when these substances are used together to boost plant growth. The unique benefits of each of these products can complement each other. While humic acid naturally improves soil health and growth, fulvic acid helps plants take up nutrients more effectively.
For instance, it has been demonstrated that when fulvic acids are applied to tomatoes, they improve plant growth, yield, and fruit quality due to effective nutrient uptake. In maize, they result in increased root length and shoot length.
Looking at the trajectory of events, there is a strong indication that food insecurity in Africa will worsen. Evidently, the only surefire way for countries to increase crop yield is by adopting tried and tested methods of increasing production. The use of fulvic and humic acids is one of the low-hanging fruits within the grasp of crop producers.
