A deeper understanding of soil composition is essential in order to create optimized fertility programs. Among other factors observed through soil analysis, organic matter is a reliable indicator of soil fertility, as it affects physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil.
Organic Matter is essential for attaining healthy soil fertility.
Biological activity: most of the micro-organisms living in the soil need energy from the organic matter to be efficient and optimize their biological activity.
Nutrient availability: thanks to the micro-organisms, the fresh organic matter is either mineralized (1) into nutrients, directly available for plants (2) or transformed into humus (3), the most stable part of organic matter that plays an essential role on the soil structure and nutrient availability through time.
This humus is in turn mineralised in order to provide nutrients for the plants, we call it the second mineralization (4) and this process is much longer than the first mineralization mentioned above. At the same time, this humus binds to clay in order to form the well-known clay-humus complex (5). This complex catches nutrients (6) and prevents them from leaching and being blocked by other molecules, until it releases (6) them into the soil solution where plants can access nutrients.
pH regulation (7): The clay-humus complex also has a high-buffering capacity, trapping H+ cations that are responsible for acidifying the soil. Be careful: the cation exchange capacity of the complex is not unlimited and when more H+ cations become trapped, fewer essential nutrients for plants will be stored.
Soil structure (8): the clay-humus complex also plays a major role on the soil structure as it
• allows the aggregation of soil particles in order to get a better porosity,
• limits the number of free particles (and so, limits the risk of beating),
• reinforces the soil resistance to compaction.
TIMAC AGRO Technologies optimize micro-organisms activity, enhance organic matter mineralization, and improve nutrient availability. Contact your local TIMAC AGRO Expert to find out which technology is right for you!
