What’s the best way to apply fertilizer in forestry?
When we have discussions with forest companies and contractors the starting point is usually taken from fertilizing processes for manual planting. Tablets, granula dispensers, and other fertilizer condensers have been designed for ease of use in manual settings.
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What’s the best way to apply fertilizer in forestry?
It depends.
When we have discussions with forest companies and contractors the starting point is usually taken from fertilizing processes for manual planting. Tablets, granula dispensers, and other fertilizer condensers have been designed for ease of use in manual settings. We can obviously dispense these with our mechanical planters and soil cultivators too.
But it may not be the best way if the aim is to get maximal growth in an integrated forestation setting.
What might be the best way is to use the forestation platform to mix different fertilizers (instead of buying an expensive composite fertilizer). And, crucially to mix the fertilizer with the soil for better uptake of nutrients. Obviously, you would also document and measure everything… because how else would you know what works in your conditions?
Take a look at some of the preliminary findings from a trial in Southeast China. The trial compares different applications of slow-release fertilizer. Mixing the fertilizer with the soil during pitting was by far the best treatment.
Now, imagine what happens to your rotation times if you achieve a 20-25% increase in growth by adapting a mechanized approach.
For serious practitioners that want a more detailed source for these findings please get in touch with me or Jussi Aikala and we’ll elaborate on the project: henrik.janer@risutec.fi, jussi.aikala@risutec.fi