Extensive Australian trials of a new fertiliser have made growers confident it could become an affordable and sustainable alternative to nitrogen
Trialled by Australian farmers and agronomists over the past two years, a new fertiliser called Lono has seen improved yield and soil quality plus a reduction in pollution, according to those involved.
Lono distributor ProdOz collaborated with producers and industry agencies to conduct the trials, which it says has revealed success in Lono’s ability to be a nitrogen replacement.
“Farmers adopting Lono in Australia are witnessing the benefits for themselves,” ProdOz crop science technologist Zenon Kynigos says.
“Enhanced nitrogen stability and availability translates to improvements in crop health, vigour and yield, offering tangible economic benefits and reducing the environmental footprint of farming operations.
“Lono has a strategic focus on reproductive growth, directing plant development towards flowers, fruits, and roots.”
Lono holds nitrogen in the amine form, Kynigos adds, which offers benefits beyond conventional nitrogen fertilisers.
Kynigos says traditional fertilisers predominantly deliver nitrogen in the nitrate form, which he says leads to excess vegetative growth at the expense of fruit development.
“Lono addresses this by providing stabilised amine nitrogen, promoting bushier growth, enhanced root branching, and increased flower and fruit production through naturally elevated cytokinin hormone levels,” he says.
“Lono changes where a plant allocates growth – known as ‘growth partitioning’.”
One of the farming companies involved in Lono’s local trials was Costa Avocados, which had run trials across multiple sites on Australia’s eastern seaboard across the past 12 months.
The group’s national agronomist Craig Boyce says Lono has the potential to account for between 15 and 20 per cent of its nitrogen program.
“There’s very good science behind it and it caters for a need other people haven’t thought about,” he says.
“It’s a specialist tool with very specific timing and for a very specific reason which, for us, is when we have a nitrogen versus yield conflict in our crop.
“We’ve seen improved yield and nitrate levels, and it will, no doubt, remain part of our nitrogen program.”
Another successful trialist was Western Australia’s Galati Group, which used Lono on six vegetable sites over two years and encountered positive results in potato, onion, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, eggplant and capsicum crops.
“Our results have been very encouraging,” co-principal Vince Galati says.
“We’ve minimised our nitrogen inputs, the crop health has been enhanced and we’ve had better quality and yield and good healthy plant growth that is manageable,” he says.
“The trials have been extended to all vegetable sites and Lono is part of our R&D strategy to use less fertiliser.”