New fertilizer technologies for rice.

Small-scale rice farmers in Kirinyaga County in Kenya are using new fertilizer technologies to increase yields by up to 50% while using one-third less fertilizer. The technology ‘package’ introduced by 2SCALE has two components. First, a specially formulated fertilizer blend that contains micronutrients such as magnesium, zinc and boron in addition to the standard NPK. Second, ‘deep placement’ application, where briquettes (pellets) of fertilizer are inserted into the soil rather than the usual practice of broadcasting. Deep placement reduces fertilizer losses by two-thirds, ensuring that nutrients remain in the root zone, available to plants, for much longer. Another innovation is slow-release fertilizer, which needs to be applied only once, at planting, compared to the usual two applications – substantially reducing labor costs.continue