Australian farmer Sam Catalano discovers new fertilizing strategy way to rejuvenate soils and reduce costs. In the nineties Sam recognized faster growth of grasses and adapted cattle grazing behavior to locations where minerals were applied. This discovery led to current product, containing basalt powder, called MinPlus.
In the video a banana farmer explains how use of MinPlus strengthened his trees: “In the past the banana trees had a productive live span of about four years, as roots became affected by nematodes at the end. Sine using MinPlus the root density expands and the stronger roots are not affected by nematodes anymore”. As the Australian continent is known for its old and probably also among most depleted soils in the world, this new technique is among main solutions reducing farmer input costs in future. Besides, Sam explains: the MinPlus is able to increase organic matter content of the soil and so increase water retention capacity. Also Minplus has a liquid limit of 23 per cent which means that it’s weight increases by 23 per cent when it is wet, therefore increasing water storage capacity in the soil”.
With these characteristics it holds certainly promise for farmers to adapt to changing rainfall patterns in arid zones.
More info: http://www.minplus.com.au/
Produced by: MinPlus
Year: 2009
Language: English
