To avoid waste with foliar fertilization, a new mobile app offers plant nutrient analysis service.

The tool reduces the cost of the lab and the result is ready on time.

Just one click on the phone's camera and in a few seconds it is possible to know if there is a deficiency of fertilization. The scanner is made through an application that identifies by colorimetry the macronutrients of the leaf. 

The technology was developed by a fertilizer company based in Israel. The tool avoids product waste by applying specific dosage for each planted area.

"This new software that we are bringing, it tries to facilitate the life of the farmer in every way where through artificial intelligence algorithm, using image, where through, specifically, the image with the photo of any cell phone, all cell phones were calibrated to be able to be used. We can understand in this photo the nutritional deficiency of the primary macroelements, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, with a photo, in ten seconds", says the director of the Israeli Haifa Group for South America, Gustavo Branco. 

"You have an application economy, a greater assertiveness in the production process and obviously a smaller environmental impact, you are not spending products unnecessarily," he adds.

Brazil consumes 8% of all world fertilizer production, valued at 55 million tons, but imports 85% of the intake used by agribusiness.

Potassium is the most used, representing 38%. Next comes phosphorus, 33%, and nitrogen with 29%.

To decrease import dependence, one way out is to increase the efficiency of plant nutrition. The so-called special fertilizers are a kind of concentrate, with a differentiated formulation. The solution offers ease of handling and can bring more efficiency with less product quantity.

"It's a completely different concept. We don't deal in large quantities and lots, in which you apply in the whole soil, using a lot of water, and most of it doesn't even arrive in the plant. The idea with special fertilizers is to apply exactly to the needs of the plant, it is based on a knowledge of agronomy. We are improving this for plant by leaf application or by applying to the roots. So the yields are much better and there is much less pollution," says Motti Levin, CEO of Haifa Group.

The company plans to acquire a factory in Brazil to expand its operations in the local market. 

Source: Canal Rural