Abstract
The low-efficiency problem in fertilizer application can be overcome by controlling fertilizer solubility, i.e. by rendering the fertilizer to be released gradually; such material is also known as slow-release fertilizer (SRF). This research was aimed to formulate SRF by coating technique using acrylic and chitosan as the coating material, and to evaluate fertilizer resistance to too fast disintegration, and rate of nutrient release method. The results demonstrated that fertilizer formulation containing N, P, K, Fe, Cu, and Zn with granulation technique yielded 74% of granules with 2-5 mm in diameter. The SRFs (formulated fertilizer with acrylic or chitosan coating) were more resistant to water pounding than non-SRF. Furthermore, shaking test with distilled water or 2% citric acid, or by percolation test with distilled water showed that the SRFs had lower nutrient solubility than the non-SRFs. The results of shaking test also specifically indicated that coating with acrylic made the fertilizer more resistant to the citric acid,suggesting that this coating material would be more suitable in acidic soils. The SRFs formulated with the addition of chitosan during blending of micronutrients prior to mixing with macronutrients, granulation, and final coating exhibited lower nutrient solubility than the SRFs without the pre-coating chitosan addition. [How to Cite: Lili H, G Djajakirana, Darmawan, and CP Munoz. 2015. Slow- Release Fertilizer Formulation Using Acrylic and Chitosan Coating. J Trop Soils 19: 37-45. Doi: 10.5400/jts.2015.20.1.37][Permalink/DOI: www.dx.doi.org/10.5400/jts.2015.20.1.37]
Highlights
It is noteworthy that, to this day, continuing fertilizer technology development and application have not really addressed in full the problem of low fertilizer efficiency
The concept in such phased application of nutrients has been adopted in the development of a fertilizer formulation, which is more commonly referred to as Slow-Release Fertilizer (SRF)
The results of this study have conclusively demonstrated that efficiency in the use of fertilizer, as measured in terms of the amount of nutrient element contained in the fertilizer that is made economically available in the soil for absorption by plant roots to boost initial growth, can be effectively increased through the use of slow-release fertilizer (SRF) which, in this study, was formulated by means of fertilizer compound preparation, granulation, and coating with acrylic and chitosan material
Summary
To this day, continuing fertilizer technology development and application have not really addressed in full the problem of low fertilizer efficiency. The practice of multiple or repetitive fertilization with the aim of increasing efficiency is not considered an economic alternative since, among other offsetting factors, labor cost can be exceedingly prohibitive thereby only cancelling out any incremental benefit. The concept in such phased application of nutrients has been adopted in the development of a fertilizer formulation, which is more commonly referred to as Slow-Release Fertilizer (SRF). The slow and gradual release of nutrients in SRF are done in several ways, such as by regulating nutrient element solubility in water (through the use of semi-permeable coating, occlusion, protein substances, polymers, or other forms of chemical elements); by delayed hydrolysis, or by other methods (UNIDO and IFDC 1998)
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