P R O D U C T S

& T R E N D S

Micronutrients:
In many parts of the world, such as India, Australia and
Think
the USA, where deficient soils have been treated with zinc

fertilizers, subsequent soil testing has shown that many

have an adequate zinc status for several years after

treatment. This has resulted in a declining trend in the

occurrence of zinc deficiency in many agricultural regions

and also in a declining motivation for a number of

suppliers to innovate in product research.

In the meantime, high yielding crops have a greater zinc

requirement than those grown less intensively and so the

soils require again regular soil testing. And of course this

has opened the door to new suppliers of Zinc products

eager to tap this new market niche. Today more than forty

manufacturers of zinc specialities are supplying straight

zinc products on a global scale and many more are offering

Zinc-enriched products in their catalogues. Zinc, unlike

Boron, certainly isn't the largest untapped micronutrient

market in the world. As emphasized in an exhaustive and

remarkable report recently published by the

International Zinc Association, Zinc is - and will remain

for a while - the most widespread deficiency and the

largest micronutrient market in the world!

PhotoUSDA-ARS

30 NEW AG INTERNATIONAL

ZINC!
Zinc Fertilizers, Is
There A Difference?
T
he positive effect of
Zinc on crop devel-
opment was first dis-
covered in 1870 by Raulin
on Aspergillus Niger. The
use of zinc salts as fertil-
izer was first envisaged
in 1908 but it took until
the early 1930's for scien-
tists to fully recognize
that zinc is necessary to
plant growth. Among
the main micronutrients,
zinc has a number of
advantages: its deficien-
cy is easy to identify on
crops, the soil & leaf
analysis generally give
good indications on the
risk of occurrence of the
deficiency and, last but not
least there are a number of
ways to efficiently and
quickly correct the deficien-
cy when it is there or to pre-
vent it from happening
when the risk of occurrence
has been properly evaluat-
ed.
AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT FOR
CROP GROWTH
Zinc is required in small but
critical concentrations to
allow several key plant
physiological pathways to
function normally. These
pathways have important
roles in photosynthesis and
sugar formation, protein
NEW AG INTERNATIONAL
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
synthesis, fertility and seed
production, growth regula-
tion and defense against
disease. Where zinc is defi-
cient, these physiological
functions will be impaired
and the health and produc-
tivity of the plants will be
adversely affected, resulting
in lower yields (or even
crop failure) and frequently
in poorer quality crop prod-
ucts.
Animals and humans
also have critical zinc
requirements and in areas
where zinc deficiency in
crops is widespread there is
a high risk that the health of
livestock and people will
also be affected. Several
important food crops can be
seriously affected by zinc
deficiency.
CEREALS: THE MOST AFFECTED
CROPS ON A GLOBAL SCALE
Most crops in the world can
develop some sort of zinc
deficiency. Among cereals,
where the problem is very
much widespread, maize
and rice are the most sensi-
tive with wheat being mod-
erately sensitive.
Nevertheless, where soils
are deficient in zinc, what-
ever the crop species' rela-
tive sensitivity to the
problem, if the zinc supply
00
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
F O U R Q U
Prof Brian Alloway, UK
Is Zinc deficiency the most
widespread micronutrient
deficiency in the world and
can one assess the economic
importance of the problem on
a global scale?
Courtesy of B. Alloway
Zinc deficiency is certainly the
most widespread micronutrient
deficiency in the world, but it is
Prof Brian Alloway difficult to quantify the value of
lost production and inferior
Brian Alloway is an crop quality that it is responsi-
Emeritus Prof at ble for. In some of the worst
affected countries, very large
the University of areas of land are prone to defi-
ciency, e.g. 81M ha in India
Reading in (49% of total), 14 M ha in
England. Turkey, 8 M ha in the
Philippines and 2.5 M ha in
He now works as a Iran. Even in France, 0.6 M ha is
prone to zinc deficiency.
consultant in soil However, much of the land
and environmental identified as being deficient will
have been treated with zinc fer-
science and is tilisers and so a much smaller
proportion will actually be suf-
involved in fering from deficiency nowa-
projects for the days. Nevertheless, land which
has been shown to be deficient
International Zinc (including sandy, calcareous,
flooded and high phosphate
Association(1) and soils) will need to be tested reg-
the European ularly to ensure that an ade-
quate zinc status is maintained.
Copper Institute. Hidden deficiencies, where
yields can be reduced by up to
40% without obvious symp-
toms, can exist in crops without
the farmer suspecting them.
Very often the poor yield is
ascribed to other causes and it is
only though the use of soil or
plant analysis that the problem
can be identified. Hidden defi-
ciencies probably account for
most of the lost yield caused by
zinc deficiency.
(1) Prof Alloway report “Zinc in
Soils and Crop Nutrition”, published A number of products and
by the International Zinc type of application are avail-
Association, is available on the able to the farmers to over-
website www.zinc-crops.org
since 1st September 2004.
come the problem. We know
that Zinc chelates are very
00
E S T I
effective for soil application in
calcareous conditions. A
number of references tend to
indicate that DTPA Zinc is the
most efficient chelate under
these conditions because it is
the most stable. However, it
doesn't seem that this product
is widely manufactured and
used. Do you have any expla-
nation for such situation?
Although zinc chelates can be
effective for both foliar or soil
application, they are much
more expensive than inorganic
compounds such as zinc sul-
phate. EDTA-zinc is the most
widely used chelated form of
zinc. DTPA-zinc is not used as a
fertiliser because it is too expen-
sive and probably more haz-
ardous than EDTA, with regard
to both human toxicology and
environmental risks. However,
DTPA has proved to be a very
effective reagent for use in soil
tests to assess the available zinc
status of soils.
It also seems that the use of
Speciality Zinc oxides, in flow-
able form, is developing for
foliar application in a number
of situations. Is there any sci-
entific background to the suc-
cess of this type of product?
There are several different
forms of zinc available for
either foliar or soil application.
Research has shown that the
percentage of water soluble
zinc in a product is the main
factor controlling its effective-
ness for soil application. With
regard to foliar treatments, sol-
ubility and absorption through
the leaf cuticle have to be bal-
anced against the risk of leaf
scorch from an excess of zinc
ions on the leaf surface.
Although zinc oxide is not as
soluble as either EDTA-zinc or
zinc sulphate, its effectiveness
O N S T O
as a foliar treatment may be due
to the fact that it doesn't cause
leaf scorch. Other chemicals
may be incorporated into the
flowable zinc oxide products to
modify the rate of penetration
of zinc through the cuticle.
When zinc sulphate is used as a
foliar spray, it is often neutral-
ized with calcium hydroxide to
minimize leaf scorch. EDTA-
zinc is very effective as a foliar
treatment and is unlikely to
cause scorch, but it is much
more expensive than either zinc
sulphate or zinc oxide.
Cereals are the most broadly
affected crops around the
world, in particular wheat, rice
and maize. Is there any
research on GMOs that would
be zinc efficient? And more
generally speaking, what are
the main future research
requirements?
You are right about the impor-
tance of zinc deficiency in cere-
als; however, I do not think that
GMOs are necessary to address
this problem. Cultivars of all
species of cereals show a wide
range of variation in zinc effi-
ciency, i.e. they differ in the
extent to which they can grow
successfully on soils of margin-
al zinc status. Much work has
already been done on screening
cultivars of rice, wheat and
maize for zinc efficiency.
Conventional plant breeders
can now use the more efficient
plants in breeding programmes
to obtain new cultivars with
improved zinc efficiency.
However, field trials need to be
conducted with new zinc effi-
cient cultivars to determine the
critical soil test concentrations
of zinc which will indicate
when zinc fertilisers are
needed.
NEW AG INTERNATIONAL

Table 1: Soil Tests for Available Zinc (various sources)
Soil Test Reagent
DTPA (0.02M)
EDTA (0.05M)
HCI (0.1M)
status is inadequate, the
crops will be affected by
deficiency. And most
researchers and extension
officers agree that zinc defi-
ciency is probably the
micronutrient deficiency
having the largest impact
on a number of crops in
terms of yield losses.
While in Europe and
North America maize is the
largest market for zinc
products with a number of
fruit trees and other crops
also affected, the rice-wheat
systems is the main concern
in Asia and wheat is the big
problem in Australia. In
South America, zinc defi-
ciency is especially wide-
spread in citrus, coffee and
maize (Brazil) but it also
affects a number of tropical
crops (e.g.pineapple).
Cotton is also a crop that is
affected in many places
where it is grown as well as
linseed and some vegeta-
bles such as beans. Among
the least affected crops, one
finds grapes, alfalfa, aspara-
gus and carrots.
A WORLDWIDE SPREAD
PROBLEM AND THE LARGEST
MICRONUTRIENT MARKET
There is no such thing as a
detailed world map of
places where zinc deficien-
Table 2: Critical Concentrations from Leaf Analysis of Crops (various sources)
Crop Severity of Deficiency
Wheat Acute
Moderate
Hidden
No response to Zinc
Rice Deficiency
Maize Deficiency
NEW AG INTERNATIONAL
Critical (or Threshold) Concentrations
(mg Zn/kg in dry soil)
0.5-2.0
<0.6-1.0
<1.0-5.0
cy is likely to appear on
crops, although such map
has been drawn in a
number of countries (USA,
India, China). Indeed the
relevance of such map
would be questionable. The
frequency of the occurrence
of the deficiency in a given
region can substantially
vary from one year to the
other depending on crop
rotation, climatic condi-
tions, phosphate and nitro-
gen applications, etc. The
use of new high yielding
cultivars -sometimes less
zinc efficient, and of irriga-
tion to boost yields is also
an aggravating factor. There
are however a number of
recurrent factors that indi-
cate the likely occurrence of
the deficiency: soils poor in
zinc (acid sandy soils that
are prone to leaching), cal-
careous soils, soils poor in
organic matter, cold and/or
semi-arid climates. Many
countries (see map) have
problems with zinc defi-
ciency on a number of
crops. A study of the nutri-
ent status of soils in 30
countries was carried out
by FAO between 1974 and
1982 under the Direction of
Prof Sillanpää. Ten coun-
tries had soils and crops of
particularly low zinc status,
Critical Concentration
(mg Zn/kg in dry soil)
<8
8-12
12-20
>20
<1-15
<20-22
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
of which India, Pakistan,
Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and
Turkey. In this last country
alone, more than 14 million
hectares of arable land are
zinc deficient! Other neigh-
bouring countries in these
areas are likely (or have
proven in the meantime) to
have similar zinc deficiency
problems. Other countries -
12 in total- also had areas
Photo NAI
“The addition of
granulated zinc
to dry blends is
common practice”
with zinc deficiency:
Hungary, Mexico, Nepal,
Philippines, Thailand,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania
and Zambia. In the mean-
time the deficiency has been
reported in many other
countries. Among them
Australia, where the prob-
lem affects millions of
hectares and the USA where
the deficiency is today
recognised in 40 states (in
particular California,
Hawai and Washington).
Today tens of millions of
hectares around the globe
receive some kind of zinc
dressing, making zinc the
largest micronutrient
market in the world.
TWO MAIN TYPES OF
ZINC FERTILIZERS
The history of Zn fertilizers
goes back to 1934 when
Zinc Sulphate was fist
recommanded for use in
treating “white bud” in
maize. Today two different
00
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
A N I N
Alan Wicks, head of R&D of the
Plant Nutrient Enhancing Technologies group
at Northwest Agricultural Products, Pasco, USA
Northwest Agricultural
Products, Inc. and
“Zinc may also be Monterey Ag Resources
work together to jointly
applied foliar in the serve the western United
States. The two companies
form of a chelated offer a complete range of
products and services for
zinc but is not the micronutrient, bio-fer-
mentation and pesticide
as efficient or markets. The staff of both
companies offers many
years of field experience
economical as and dedication in the
wholesale distribution, and
zinc sulfate” formulation of new prod-
ucts for their respective
areas. A common nutrient
that both companies offer
in animal feed and crop
production is zinc.
“The United States
Agricultural industry uses
approximately 14% of the
overall 1.17 million metric
tons of zinc consumed
domestically. The country
imports about two-thirds of
its domestic needs, typically
from Canada, Mexico and
Peru due to their close prox-
types of compounds -inor-
ganic and organic com-
pounds - are used as zinc
fertilizers (see table 3). They
vary considerably in their
zinc content and price.
Among inorganic sources
Zinc Sulphate still is the
most commonly used
source around the world. It
is essentially 100% soluble,
cheap and available in both
crystalline and granular
form but the latter has a
lower solubility. Solubility
is related to the process
32
T E R V I E W W I T H
imity. Zinc consumption has
remained stagnant in the
United States for the past 30
years. Alternatively, prices
have spiraled downward
Courtesy of A. Wicks
from $1800/ mt in 1988, to
as low as $850/mt in 2002.
Zinc sulfate pricing and
supply, however, can be
influenced by fertilizer cotton, sorghum, fruits, and
demand during the fertilizer vegetables.
season. Increasing emphasis Zinc Sulfates are the
on reducing zinc oxy sulfate most commonly used prod-
use in fertilizers is increas- ucts to remedy zinc deficien-
ing the demand for zinc sul- cies. Soil applied zinc has
fate and, thereby, tightening been proven to be the most
the supply. This has put efficient corrective measure
much upward pressure on at a rate of 5 to 15 pounds of
zinc sulfate prices. zinc per acre for most crops.
In a recent survey zinc- Zinc may also be applied
deficient soils were found in foliar in the form of a chelat-
42 out of 48 states in ed zinc but is not as efficient
America. The most defi- or economical as zinc sul-
cient states were located in fate.
the Midwest region, which Zinc deficiencies are
ranged from medium to easily corrected and zinc
severe. Zinc is the most applications will continue to
common micronutrient defi- be used by American
ciency in agriculture today! Farmers to sustain the con-
Its deficiency can limit stant increase in the demand
yields of corn, beans, wheat, for food world wide”.
used in fertilizer manufac- with sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
turing and the primary to improve solubility and
product used as a Zn promote granulation. The
source. Other Zn fertilizers final product will be a mix-
in the market place are ture of ZnO, and zinc sul-
manufactured from indus- fate (ZnSO4). The more acid
trial by-products such as that ZnO is reacted with,
zinc nitrate (widely used in the more ZnSO4 that is
France to correct Zn deffi- formed, and the higher the
ciency on maize) or zinc water solubility of the final
oxide (ZnO). Unfortunately, fertilizer material.
ZnO is not water soluble Fertilizers that are mixtures
and not an effective Zn fer- of ZnO and ZnSO4 are
tilizer on alkaline soils. To called Zn oxysulfates and
prepare granular Zn fertiliz- most experts agree that they
er from ZnO, it is reacted should be at least 50% solu-
NEW AG INTERNATIONAL

Table 3: Commonly used Zinc fertilizer materials
Compound
Inorganic Compounds
Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate
Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate
Zinc Oxysulfate
Basic Zinc Sulphate
Zinc Oxide*
Zinc Carbonate*
Zinc Chloride
Zinc Nitrate
Sulphurous Zinc
Zinc Frits
Ammoniated zinc sulphate solution
Organic Compounds
Disodium Zinc EDTA
Sodium Zinc HEDTA
Sodium Zinc EDTA
Zinc polyflavonoids
Zinc lignosulfonates
Source: Alloway & Loué, based on Mordvedt&Gilkes, Martens &
Westermann, and Srivastava & Gupta. *: insoluble in water.
ble to ensure sufficient agro-
nomic effectiveness.
Another type of inor-
ganic complex that is used
as a source of zinc is ammo-
niated zinc sulphate solu-
tion (10% Zn but also
10-15% N and 5% S), often
combined with ammonium
polyphosphate as a starter
(banded) fertilizer, especial-
ly on Maize.
Organic compounds, in
particular synthetic chelates
have gained share in the
market ( however not to the
extent of manganese
chelates to treat the Mn def-
ficiency). In the case of zinc,
EDTA is the most widely
used source. Other chelates
such as zinc citrate may be
used here and there .They
are less expensive than Zn-
EDTA but they are also less
stable. New developments
in the market include the
IDHA Zn, a new fully solu-
ble powder containing 10%
Zinc proposed in particular
by Agrex, based on the the
new chelating agent IDHA
developed by the German
company Bayer. The prod-
NEW AG INTERNATIONAL
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
advantage of being less
Formula Zinc Content (%) expensive than synthetic
chelates but are generally
ZnSO4, H2O 36-37 less stable and restricted to
ZnSO4, 7H2O 22-23 foliar application.
xZnSo4, xZnO 20-50
ZnSo4, 4Zn(OH)2 55 ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
ZnO 50-80 SOURCES?
ZnCO3 50-56 A huge number of studies
ZnCl2 50
have been done around the
Zn(NO3)2, 3H2O 23
world, comparing inorganic
ZnS 67
sources between them-
Fritted glass 10-30
Zn(NH3)4SO4 10 selves or comparing inor-
ganic sources (mainly zinc
Na2ZnEDTA 8-14 sulphate) to organic com-
NaZnHEDTA 6-10 pounds (mainly zinc
NaZnEDTA 9-13 EDTA). Some contradict
5-10 eachother but it is generally
5-8 admitted that for soil appli-
cation -by far the most com-
monly used application
method - in calcareous
uct, currently under regis- soils, chelates are more
tration, is entirely bio- effective than zinc sulp-
degradable and suitable for phate, which in turn is more
both soil/root/hydroponics effective than other organic
and leaf application. Its pro- compounds such as ligno-
moters also quote it as “rea- sulfonates and
sonable in price”. The polyflavonoids. To cut a
market will decide. long story short Zn-EDTA
Finally, natural organic is considered to be 4-5 times
complexes, mostly manu- more effective than Zinc
factured by reacting zinc Sulphate in greenhouse pot
salts with organic by-prod- experiments (down to only
ucts from paper pulp man- 2-3 times in field experi-
ufacture (LPCA, ments) but it is at the same
lignosulfonates and time 5 to 10 times more
polyflavonoids), have also expensive. So why not
increased in importance in using only zinc sulphate on
the market, although they all crops in all situations
remain marginal at the everywhere around the
moment. They carry the world? They are a number
Document courtesy of Alloway
00
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
A N I N
Raza Soomar, President, RNZ Group, India
“Zinc deficiency is most
commonly found in Indian
soils and is estimated to be
“The government as much as 47%.In India,
zinc is available from a
should allow the number of registered prod-
ucts: Zinc Sulphate
Heptahydrate (21%), Zinc
major fertilizer Sulphate Monohydrate
(33%),Zn-EDTA (12%),
companies to Zincated Urea (1.5%) and
suspension of Zincated
produce zinc-based Phosphate (19.4%). Zinc
Sulphate Heptahydrate and
fertilizers” Monohydrate are most
widely used to overcome
zinc deficiency.
Unfortunately, the produc-
tion of both these products is
restricted to small scale
industry which employs
small capital and semi-
skilled workers. With an
exception of few, the only
motivation for them is to
earn profits. The end result
is sub-standard product
with poor zinc content
which is literally dumped
into the market with conniv-
ing dealers/ retailers. These
back-yard units operate only
during peak season time,
of reasons that have made
alternative products
increasingly popular: for
example, zinc is very little
mobile in the soil, hence the
necessity for some crops
(e.g.fruit trees) to switch to
foliar spraying, an applica-
tion method where chelates
and other organic com-
pounds globally prove
superior not so much in
terms of zinc penetration
into the leaf but rather in
terms of zinc transport
within the plant, tank mixa-
bility, phytotoxicity and leaf
burn, etc.
00
T E R V I E W W I T H
about 4 months in a year,
with no agronomic or sales
support. Present estimated
capacity of Zinc Sulphates is
around 170,000 tpa while
actual production is estimat-
ed around 75-80,000 tpa.
Courtesy of RNZ Group
The delivered farm gate
price for Zinc Sulphate
Heptahydrate ranges
around US$ 177pmt to US$
270 pmt while that of Zinc ty, timely availability and
Sulphate Monohydrate is after sales support. Further
around US$ 560 pmt to US$ new and efficient Zinc based
650 pmt. These prices too products should be intro-
vary every month depend- duced in the market for dif-
ing on the price/ availability ferent crops. Regular checks
of Zinc ash and Sulphuric and tightened control by
Acid. With inadequate stor- enforcement agencies will
age facilities, Zinc Sulphate ensure farmer gets his value
Heptahydrate literally melts for money.
away in the hot Indian The importance of Zinc
summer and the farmer and other micro nutrients in
unknowingly carries home increasing food grain pro-
short weight bags. ductivity is established
Given the serious defi- beyond doubt. Faced with a
ciencies estimated to grow challenge of providing 337
to 1.0-1.5 million mt of Zinc million mt food grains to 1.2
Sulphates by 2025, the gov- billion Indians by year 2011-
ernment should allow the 12, the government should
major fertilizer companies resolve the above issues
to produce Zinc based fertil- sooner than later for a better
izers. This will ensure quali- future.
This being said, a between the history of zinc
number of researchers and deficiency,the amplitude of
field officers rightly observe its occurrence in the coun-
that an increased zinc con- try, the crop and the soil pat-
centration in the plant tern determines the
(which is a way to measure “driving forces” in the
the agronomic effectiveness market, which can be very
of one source as compared different from one place to
to the others) doesn't neces- the other. There is room for
sarily result in a yield everyone in the market!
increase (which is one way
to measure the cost-effec- A BUNCH OF SUPPLIERS TO THE
tiveness of a treatment)! INTERNATIONAL MARKET
As appears in the vari- The fact that the market is at
ous interviews with people the same time huge and
active in the market in open is reflected in the
Europe, India, Australia number and the diversity of
and the USA, the mix suppliers & manufacturers
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 P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S

“Rice is one of the

most affected crops
here in India”
Courtesy of RNZ-India

of zinc products. More than
40 suppliers of straight zinc
specialities compete on a
global scale with a variety
of products. They include
liquids & suspensions for
soil/leaf application as well
as granulated fertilizers for
mixing with NPKs in dry
blends for soil application
and microgranulated prod-
ucts -mostly fully soluble
with high tank mixability -
for dissolving in water and
then foliar spray or soil-
apply.
Whereas granulated
zinc products are mainly

Table 4: Main suppliers of Zinc Products to the International markets

Company Country liquids/suspensions powder/microgran granular some trademarks
Adfert Emirates Adfert Zn EDTA
Agrex Germany Microfert Zn, Natrel, ID HA Zinc
Agrimar UK Agrimar Zinc
Agrium USA
Agrofill Italy AgroZin
Agronutrition France Zinconia, zincofol, granoligo, Fixa Zn
Atlantica Agricola Spain Kelik Zn, Kelkat Zn
Belco USA
Biolchim Italy Zinco liquido, organmicroZn
Ciba Specialty UK Librel Zn
CIFO Italy Zinc L, ZincFast
Cosmocel Mexico Kelatex Zn, Fertigro Zn
Frit Industries USA
Haifa Chemicals Israel MultiMicro Zn
ITECO Spain MicroD'or Zn
Leffingwell USA NutriSpray Zinc
Loveland UK Cutonic Zn
Ltus Borregaard USA/Netherlands Borrechel Zn
Melspring Netherlands Micromel Zn
Micromix UK
Monterey Chemicals USA Sequestar Zn, Granusol,Maximo Zn
Nabta Chemicals China Na010 Zn, Na011Zn
Phosyn UK Teprosyn Zn, Zintrac
Plantin France Oliplant Zn 34
Plant Prod Canada
Plaaskem South Africa ZincMax
Rosier Belgium Zinc +
Tessenderlo Kerley USA NZn
Tiger Industries USA Envirosul Zn, Tigertech Zn
Tradecorp Spain/Portugal Aton Zn, Tradecorp Zn
Valagro Italy Brexil Zn, Chelafarm Zn
Note: this list is not exhaustive and it includes only companies offering straight Zinc products.
A number of these and other suppliers also offer products enriched with Zinc.
Source: Producers information and New Ag International database

NEW AG INTERNATIONAL 00
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
A N I N
Luc Wattelle, Commercial Director,
Agronutrition, originally
belonging to the SCPA
Group, pioneered the
“Today the launch of the speciality
micronutrients market in
development of France. Zinc deficiency on
Maize was the first prob-
zinc application in lem that the company
addressed in the Sixties.
France is mainly “If I may put it this way,
Zinc in France = Maize.
done through During the sixties, with
the development of new
maize varieties, our compa-
the new NP Zn ny discovered the occur-
rence of Zinc deficiency in
products” the South west of France, on
sandy soils. At this time, the
only way known to solve
the problem was to foliar-
spray zinc sulphate. This
solution had some draw-
backs. It was only curative,
it created leaf scorch and the
period to apply the product
was too short for the con-
ventional farming equip-
ment.
We then launched our
first product, ZINCONIA. It
was a very convenient and
innovative product made of
zinc nitrate (liquid and
water soluble).It was
launched and recognized as
the first preventive zinc
product on the market.
With the development
offered by a restricted
number of North American
and European suppliers pri-
marily for domestic con-
sumption and closeby
export markets that can be
reached by truck, other spe-
cialities are offerd from
every corner of the world.
Raw materials such as Zinc
sulphate and zinc oxide are
being supplied from
00
T E R V I E
Agronutrition (France)
of maize for grain and cattle
feed all over the country, the
use of preventive zinc treat-
ments started to be very
common practice. ZINCO-
NIA became the reference
product (30 % market share)
and provided the base to
start accumulating our
know-how. Up to 40 % of
the total maize area (2 mil-
lion Ha) was treated every
year. The use of Zinc helped
creating the whole trace ele-
ment market (Boron,
copper…) on others crops
such as sugar beet and cere-
als. Zinc is now used in the
same way -generalised use -
on flax. On maize or flax,
zinc treatment is part of a
complete plant nutrition
programme, it is considered
at the same level as
Nitrogen or Potassium on
broad acre crops. For spe-
ciality crops it was more
iron that played the role of
market booster but zinc is
also used especially on
apple orchards.
Since the 1992 EU farm-
ing policy, the Zinc market
on Maize has stabilized at
around 20 % to 25 % of the
area treated, however more
on irrigated fields.
In the meantime, Zinc
around the world and are -
normally- rarely in short
supply.
FURTHER RESEARCH NEEDED
In view of the economic
importance of the problems
caused by zinc deficiency
around the world, and
despite the fact that the defi-
ciency is increasingly easier
to detect thanks to the
W W I T H
Courtesy of L. Wattelle
was integrated to nutrition
programmes in many
others ways: by incorpora-
tion in commodity NPK fer-
tilisers, with special zinc
granules (e.g. GRANOLI-
GO) in dry blends, etc.
Today the development
of zinc application in France
is mainly done through the
new NP Zn products, e.g.
our liquid foliar STARMAX
and our MICROSTAR PZ , a
micro-granulated product
applied during sowing,
directly in the raw. It brings
at the same time preventive
zinc nutrition and a starter
effect, with less quantity of
fertilizer applied.
Nowadays, 10 or 12 prod-
ucts from a number of sup-
pliers compete in this
developing market, mainly
targeting maize and vegeta-
bles”.
widely promoted use of
tools like soil and plant
analysis, a number of
research programmes are
being put or must be put in
place. From a product view-
point, the market will wel-
come -but this is not specific
to zinc - synthetic organic
compounds that are more
environment friendly than
some synthetic chelates.
NEW AG INTERNATIONAL

A N I N
Quenten Knight, Agronomist, Landmark,
Landmark is an Australian
company owned by the
Australian Wheat Board
that operates from over 400
locations Australia wide.
Landmark supplies a
diverse range of products
and services to the
Australian farmer, ranging
from Farm Merchandise,
Agronomy, Fertiliser, Wool,
Livestock trading, Finance,
Insurance, Real Estate and
Grain Marketing to name a
few.
“Generally Australian
soils are naturally infertile.
Growing crops and pastures
successfully would be near
on impossible without the
addition of all essential
nutrients via fertiliser espe-
cially Zinc. Most Australian
farmers assess their need for
Zinc by undertaking soil
analysis before sowing or by
plant tissue analysis early in
the crops growth.
Landmark is a large sup-
plier of Zinc to the
Australian market in vari-
ous forms to meet individ-
ual farmer requirements.
Traditionally most of the
Zinc supplied to crops was
From an agronomic view-
point, those have been sum-
marized by Prof Alloway
(see interview) in his report
published by the
International Zinc
Association: the continua-
tion of the screening of cul-
tivars of major crop species
for zinc efficient strains to
be used in plant breeding
(this would enable crop
genotypes to be matched to
soils and reduce the require-
ment for zinc applications);
NEW AG INTERNATIONAL
T E R V I E
Western Australia
applied at sowing with
either DAP or MAP based
fertiliser drilled with the
seed providing a mainte-
nance rate of Zinc (80-
2000gm/ha) for the forecast
crop yield. Presently most
farmers are still applying
maintenance levels of Zinc
at sowing via DAP and
MAP based fertilisers as
well as supplementing this
with other methods of
applying Zinc.
Some farmers are using
Zinc seed dressings such as
Phosyn Teprosyn Zinc (60%
Zn) which is applied to the
seed prior to sowing, this is
proving successful in Zinc
responsive soils, the seed
dressing market has seen
considerable growth over
the last years.
The current major
growth area of the
Australian market is the
foliar market where Zinc is
sprayed post emergent onto
young crops, the foliar
market is dominated by
Zinc Sulphate (17-23% Zn)
and Zinc oxide (65-70% Zn),
and a very small portion of
Chelated Zinc products .
elucidation of the physio-
logical mechanisms
involved in the zinc-phos-
phorus interactions; devel-
oping -if possible- fertilizing
techniques for subsoils in
dry regions (e.g. Australia);
standardizing soiltest meth-
ods and the related critical
values for all major crops;
reassess the suitability of
field-based biochemical test
kits for checking the zinc
status of crops without rely-
ing on lab analysis; and last
P R O D U C T S
& T R E N D S
W W I T H
“The future growth
of zinc applications
in Australia is still
Courtesy of Landmark
in the foliar
Speciality Zinc oxide
market.”
products are the products of
choice due to their compata-
bility with a wide range of
post emergent herbicides
that are applied tank mixed
with the Zinc sprayed onto
crops.
The future for Zinc use
in Australia will continue to
increase as we grow higher
yielding crops. The future
growth is still in the foliar
market with a small devel-
oping market where farmers
are banding liquid UAN
below the seed at sowing,
some farmers see this as an
opportunity to tank mix
either Zinc Oxide or
Sulphate with the UAN and
band both beneath the seed
at sowing. Increased use of
Zinc could also potentially
grow in crops like Canola
and Pulse crops.
but not least evaluate
approaches to fortifying the
zinc content of staple foods
in a form that is as bio-avail-
able as possible to the con-
sumers. This is certainly the
most challenging research
as it will have to involve a
number of scientists from
different fields: soil experts,
plant breeders, nutritionists.
Once again the industry
should join forces with aca-
demic research! ■
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