Peach Farmer's Association, Yangshan, Wuxi, China Nov.
2004
Introduction
The use of low toxicity and environmental-friendly ingredients for
agriculture purpose is an international trend. China should not be an
exception lest its citizen and produce are falling behind in this regard
from the developed countries in the world. AZOMITE is a multi-mineral fertilizer that has been certified as "organic" in
the United States. An experiment was conducted in 2003 to test such
a product to see if it has practical application in China. The crop
selected was the Peach from YangShan District of WuXi City, Jiangsu
Province, China. Peach from this area is well known in the nearby provinces
and supply major markets such as Shanghai, Nanjing, and HangZhou. There
are over 100,000 Mu (6600 hec.) of peach farms in the area, with an
annual production of over 100,000 tons of peach between May and August.
The objective of the test included the effect of AZOMITE on peach trees under stress; either due to old age or due to depleted
nutrients in the soil.
Material and Methods
AZOMITE (Peak Minerals, Inc. USA) was
provided from Shanghai Lytone Biochemicals, Ltd. And its main ingredients
included 67 different elements, as stated from the original supplier.
Potassium sulfate was purchased from commercial sources.
Experiment Design: A total of 12 lots were selected at random
to divide into 3 different groups. Each group will have 3 lots as replicates
with 0.5 Mu (333 M2) each lot. The three groups are:
- 3KG AZOMITE spread around the root crown of each Peach Tree. Approximately
150KG were used for each Mu.(Ave. 50 trees/Mu). Additionally, 5KG
organic fertilizers were used per tree.
- 3KG of a commercial chemical fertilizer was used instead of AZOMITE.
5KG organic fertilizer was also used.
- Only 5KG organic fertilizer was used for each tree.
Location: All of the lots were located in Yangshan Village,
Yangshan Township.
Plants: All of the Peach trees were locally grown since late
1970s. There was some seedling improvement effort. However, the farmers
seemed to rely solely on the government extension station's help in
strain improvement.
Land: The fertilizer strength of the soil in question were of
average, with a rather flat layout. There was no significant differences
in soil condition between the groups
Season: The fertilizers were all applied on Nov. 15, 2003 according
to plan, and covered lightly with soil. There was no significant weather
condition that could have impacted the results of the trial. The management
practice of the farms were also identical.
Results:
Total yield among the plots using different fertilizers:
| Treatment Group |
Ave. Production per lot (KG) |
Ave. Production per Mu (KG) |
Improvement over control (%) |
Note:
Average taken from all of the trees in the same group |
| A |
510 |
1020 |
27.5% |
| B |
485 |
970 |
21.25% |
| C |
400 |
800 |
|
It seems that AZOMITE was able to improve
yield of peach at a higher rate than the other treatments, and significantly
better than the control group.
Effect of AZOMITE on Brix level in
the Peach; Value taken from 10 peaches harvest at random from each group.
| Brix |
Treatment group |
A |
B |
C |
| 1 |
14.50 |
14.60 |
13.10 |
| 2 |
16.00 |
15.55 |
14.50 |
| 3 |
16.55 |
12.20 |
12.80 |
| 4 |
14.50 |
13.50 |
13.80 |
| 5 |
15.25 |
14.80 |
14.85 |
| 6 |
16.50 |
15.10 |
12.30 |
| 7 |
16.60 |
14.25 |
12.50 |
| 8 |
15.60 |
11.35 |
12.50 |
| 9 |
15.45 |
14.50 |
13.25 |
| 10 |
15.30 |
15.70 |
14.40 |
| Average Brix |
15.625 |
14.155 |
13.40 |
| Improvement over control(%) |
16.6% |
5.6% |
- |
| Note - Peach
of each group was taken from the same lot. |
The Brix level of AZOMITE group was significantly
higher than those of the others,and the pulp of the peach seems to be
smoother and with stronger flavour.
Observation by the farmers as well as investigators also noticed that
the AZOMITE group tends to blossom earlier
than the other groups by 3~4 day. The leaves are of a dark green color
as compared to the lighter green color of the other groups. The pest
pressure seems lighter and there were more buds with successful ripening
than the other groups.
Summary:
AZOMITE seems to be able to support earlier
budding, increased the chlorophyll content of leaves, thus improving
the photosynthetic efficiency of plants. There are reports that AZOMITE may also help the absorption of other nutrients by plant when applied
together. This experiment seems to confirm such an observation.
Application of AZOMITE at 150KG per Mu
(2,250kg/hec) was able to help improve overall yield of peaches by more
than 25% under the conditions tested in this experiment.
Appendix:
Effect of peach tree saplings in Yangshan by AZOMITE (2~3 yrs old) Index taken at different periods of the experiment.
| |
|
Tree Crown |
|
New branch on the main stem |
Side Branch 1 |
Side Branch 2 |
Side Branch 3 |
| 20/04/2004 Treatment AZOMITE |
Circumference
(cm) |
|
Height
(cm) |
|
|
|
|
| |
245 |
2400 |
2750 |
520 |
220 |
160 |
170 |
| |
|
|
|
710 |
170 |
110 |
90 |
| |
|
|
|
350 |
150 |
90 |
80 |
| CK |
215 |
2300 |
2150 |
320 |
90 |
40 |
10 |
| |
|
|
|
350 |
110 |
40 |
8 |
| |
|
|
|
410 |
70 |
30 |
16 |
| |
|
Tree Crown |
|
New branch on the main stem |
Side Branch 1 |
Side Branch 2 |
Side Branch 3 |
| 21/05/2004 Treatment AZOMITE |
Circumference
(cm) |
|
Height
(cm) |
|
|
|
|
| |
250 |
2500 |
2900 |
990 |
700 |
700 |
800 |
| |
|
|
|
1100 |
400 |
400 |
370 |
| |
|
|
|
950 |
420 |
350 |
300 |
| CK |
220 |
2330 |
2200 |
700 |
220 |
300 |
190 |
| |
|
|
|
740 |
260 |
230 |
160 |
| |
|
|
|
900 |
170 |
190 |
300 |
| |
|
Tree Crown |
|
New branch on the main stem |
Side Branch 1 |
Side Branch 2 |
Side Branch 3 |
| 03/11/2004 Treatment AZOMITE |
Circumference
(cm) |
|
Height
(cm) |
|
|
|
|
| |
310 |
3300 |
3100 |
1600 |
1000 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| CK |
270 |
2900 |
1300 |
1250 |
700 |
|
|
It is obvious that AZOMITE was able to
stimulate growth of peach tree saplings significantly.
Peach productivity (kg/HA), BRIX values, and Sapling growth were improved
with AZOMITE.
|
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