Foliar P on Cereals Increases Yield

Later drilled crops don’t have as long to establish biomass i.e. decent root systems and tillers, before the soils cool and the crops slow down growth for the winter. Phosphate is well-known for its role in plant root development but isn’t plant-available once soil temperatures start to drop. It also easily gets locked up in the soil, with up to 40% of an application of MAP/DAP locked up 2 weeks after application due to becoming attached to ions (such as Al, Fe, Ca) in the soil.

A more effective method of getting phosphate into the plant, when it has a limited root system, is to apply it as a foliar spray. Foliar phosphate is taken up much more efficiently, useful for when the roots aren’t able to access soil-P, meaning that later drilled crops can access it.

A micronutrient formulation, YaraVita Crop Boost, is a particularly useful product for application to cereals in the autumn. It not only contains P and potassium, but also zinc and magnesium, both of which aid establishment and can help fight disease within a plant.

Independent trial work, carried out on two sites, gave an average yield increase of 1.2t/ha from an application of 3.0l/ha YaraVita Crop Boost in the autumn, followed by 2.0l/ha YaraVita Gramitrel in the spring. Another trial set showed that an application of Crop Boost at T0 followed by Gramitrel (same rates as before) gave 0.6t/ha yield increase. Therefore, whether you can apply Crop Boost in the autumn or early in the spring at T0, there are good returns with an average yield increase of up to 0.9t/ha, making it well worth the investment.