KINGSTON, Jamaica – Agriculture sector stakeholders and backyard gardeners are being encouraged to implement fertilisation regimes for usage regulation and safeguarding the environment.

Senior Lecturer at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), Spencer Jarrett, says persons using fertilisers must first understand how plants benefit.

“Plants benefit only when the fertiliser is in a dissolved state. It is from this dissolved state that the plant absorbs it. If it is too concentrated, that plant is going to die. You do not want to overfertilise; you want to be specific and know exactly what is needed by planning a fertiliser regime. Based on the crop, you may do three or four applications per year of a small amount,” he explained.

Jarrett, who was speaking during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ at the agency’s head office in Kingston on Thursday (December 12), said a comprehensive understanding of the soil is also imperative.

“You can actually work out how much nitrogen or phosphorous a plant will need throughout its lifecycle, or throughout the crop’s phenology and then you work on splitting the applications. Rather than putting everything one time or just two times, you split it, and the effect would be less on the environment,” he explained.

Technical Manager for the Soil Health, Plant Tissue and Water Laboratory in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining’s Agriculture Land Management Division (ALMD), Pamella McKenzie, said overfertilisation is also detrimental to delicate environmental ecosystems.

“With it [fertiliser] disrupting the ecosystem, it will not be able to provide the services as it ought to. For instance, when we overfertilise, this goes into our ground water, and it affects fish downstream. It sometimes causes algae bloom, and [this] can cause fish kill. So overfertilisation is something that needs to be managed and monitored,” she maintained.

McKenzie, who also spoke during the Think Tank, said addressing overfertilisation begins with understanding the soil’s composition.

“A lot of our farmers are still farming without knowing what is in the soil and what the crop needs. They are not doing soil tests. Getting an analysis done will determine if, for example, a farmer needs extra nitrogen, phosphate or potash. Overfertilisation has a lot of implications, not just resources being wasted by the farmer, but it is a detriment to the environment. Farmers need to remember, before you invest, do a soil test,” she stated.

McKenzie advised that these services are provided at the soil lab, pointing out that, “we have a section where we test bulk density, water holding capacity of curve and sand silt and clay texture.”

Meanwhile, Soil Food Web Consultant, Lise Charron Alexander, is also recommending the use of microbiological tests, for farmers to understand the microorganisms that exist in their soil.

“[This shows the] amount, quantity or percentage of microorganisms and what types you have in your soil. This is a totally different type of result. The advantage of that is, it gives you a true picture of the health of the soil, so it is important to test it,” she said.

For more information on the soil testing services provided by the ALMD, persons can call (876) 927-0441/ (876) 952-5618.

Persons interested in microbiological testing can contact the Bodles Research Station at (876) 745-2956.

–              JIS