? Kalanti, Finland
? Reduce Nitrogen (N) fertiliser use without losing yield
“Having data from my soil was crucial in understanding how our actions affect the growing environment. We used data from Paul-Tech to determine the amount of unused nutrients in our soil, and when adding additional nutrients would be ineffective.”
Aleksi Uussaari – Owner of ACF Uussaari
Challenge
Aleksi Uussaari is the proud owner of ACF Uussaari, an arable onion grower in Finland that frequently employs environmentally conscious choices with the natural landscape to produce high-quality crops across arable land.
The farm needed to understand if their fertiliser implementation was optimal, or if there was a way to reduce the usage and cost while maintaining or increasing crop yields. Uussaari had been adding 80-100 kg of Nitrogen fertiliser per hectare at the start of each season, with an additional 40-60 kg during the growing phase.
Paul-Tech was the tool of choice for providing data-driven analysis of crop and soil nutrient values, thanks to its ease-of-use and bounty of information provided in real time.
Their goal was to reduce fertiliser costs and use, increase the value of nutrients and crop nutrient intake, and maintain or grow their yield while doing so.
Solution
Aleksi’s usage of fertiliser was a costly one, and a solution to reduce that cost needed to be found. Paul-Tech soil stations’s unique dual probes provide actionable insight into multiple factors affecting soil health, fertility, moisture levels and active plant hydration. In the ‘22-’23 season, Uussaari implemented Paul-Tech soil stations across their two-hundred and fifty hectares of land and began to track the data within their soil.
The nitrogen levels present from over-fertilisation immediately stood out, and Uussaari farms were able to take immediate action in addition to continuous monitoring and adjustments throughout and after the season.
- A high value of identifiable nutrients, including Nitrogen (N) were available in the soil before sowing began;
- The decision was made to add 40 kg of Nitrogen to each hectare instead of 142 kg.
- Additional nutrients were released to plants following changes in irrigation or active rainfall;
- An ability to better understand when additional values of nutrient implementation were to be added was gained.
- By harvest, all nutrients had been used by the plants grown in Uussaari’s arable farmland;
- The result of this: higher quality crops with better preservation.
Results
Aleksi Uussaari reduced overall N amounts used by 70%, from 142 kg per hectare to only 40.
By season’s end, the nutrient figures were similar to Spring levels, meaning that all additional nutrients were used up by the plants.
Aleksi Uussaari ended up receiving his average yield while significantly reducing the amount of additional fertilisers. A decision that saved him 70% on fertiliser costs.
Paul-Tech soil stations also identified that when Aleksi’s soil had fewer available nutrients in the later growth stage of the crop, crop quality improved while preserving itself better. Uussaari farms now knew when not to add additional fertiliser, when an influx of nutrients was best implemented, and exactly what amounts would be optimal for health and cost savings collaboratively.