Biodynamic farming aid in Canterbury

Press, 25 February 1983, Page 22

Biodynamic farming aid in Canterbury

: Biodynamic farming has : arrived in Canterbury. No doubt there are some ■ farmers and horitculturalists J already burying cow horns. < following the claims made on ‘ a 1982 programme of Country Calendar for the pasture ■■ management and stock perI formance of an Auckland ■ farm. | But sceptics need not go to i the trouble of burying cow ■ horns, for a biodynamic ferti- • liser is at present being : offered to them by circular : letter and mail order by a ■ Christchurch distributor called Thomas Webb (N.Z.). Ltd. The claims made by the New Zealand distributors and United States manufacturer of N-Fix for the performance of this material are astounding, but they have an impressive array of results from scientifically supervised experiments and analyses to back the claims. N-Fix is a bio-nutrient supplement. with an N-P-K ratio of 15-2-4. but it is not the content of these elements which gives the fertiliser its claimed punch. It is rather the mixture of amino acids, enzymes, proteins and polysaccharides which, it is claimed, act as energy sources for soil micro-organisms. The micro-organisms, which live in symbiosis with the roots of plants, facilitate the release, of nutrients such as phosphate which may be locked up in the soil and unavailable for the plants. The plants which grow in soil treated with N-Fix respond to the released nutrients with larger root systems and better yields and performances. Because of its enzymatic or facilitatory action, the makers of N-Fix assure users that it is not a replacement fertiliser. Normal fertiliser programmes to apply trace elements and N-P-K-S should be maintained, they say.

Mr Tom Tothill, director of Thomas Webb (N.Z.). Ltd, explained last week that he had been appointed a distributor for N-Fix. for the northern part of the South Island. The agent for the South Island was Mr John Gelens, a blueberry and gooseberry grower of Wigram, Christchurch. The product is imported from the United States, where it is made, by Ag-Fix International (N.Z.), Ltd, and the principal of that company is Mr lan James of Cambridge. In promotion material for N-Fix, results from research work done by Dr Conway Powell. M.A.F. Ruakura Soil

and Plant Research Station. Hamilton, are quoted. Dr Powell applied N-Fix at 1.25 litres and 3.75 litres per hectare to maize growth at Rukuhia during 1981-82. He stated in the research report that the grain yield was increased by 34 per cent when 1.25 litres per hectare was applied and by 50 per cent with 3.75 litres per hectare applied at planting. Dr Powell commented that the mode of action of N-Fix ' was not understood, but may be due to increased water uptake at pollination time with subsequent better pollination. Drought conditions prevailed at the time ot pollination, he said, and this may have important implications for the use of N-Fix on wheat crops in Canterbury. Very little data is to hand on the results of N-Fix used on other grain crops, either here or overseas. There are. however, many claims of increased yields from a variety of other crops. In Texas. U.S.A., where NFix is manufactured, a test- Ping laboratory reported 18 more bales of lucerne off 8 acres treated with N-Fix compared with the same area of control. The protein content of the treated lucerne, or alfalfa, was 18.81 per cent versus L 17.06 per cent for the control. " Analytical Services, Ltd, of Cambridge, has reported that N-Fix treatment on swedes raised crude protein 92 per cent, on chou mollier 66 per cent, raised the sugar content of kiwifruit 12 per cent, doubled ■ the weight of let- * 7 tuces and resulted in a 60 per cent increase in the , ; weight of cabbages. . ; 7 At Pukekohe. a grower has ’ .. reported that $26 worth of N- • •= Fix resulted in an extra $3OO , ? worth, or 60 bags, per acre of • * potatoes. . J Tomatoes grown at ’ ’■ Havelock North produced 137 tonnes per hectare with N- ' Fix and 122 tonnes in a control. ’ N-Fix is not cheap, selling in New Zealand for around $l3O for one U.S. gallon, which is 3.8 litres. But at the recommended rate for field crops, this quantity would be ’ enough to do 10 acres. « It is going to take some i time, and a lot of applica- • tions, to find out if N-Fix '" confers any economic benefit 7 when used in broad acre 1 crops. But it does seem to have a L significant effect on most horticultural crops and its 7 introduction into Canterbury ■ this year may well be the - start of a fertiliser revolu- 17 tion. - •*