How to prevent fertilizer wash-off during rainy seasons

Field crop growers always wait for rain to germinate the seeds and water the plants in their crops, but when the rain come in high intensities or in excessive amounts it can wash away the fertilizers that the grower spread in the field. This can result in decreased crop yields and lower revenues for growers since there will be insufficient nutrients for the plants, as well as environmental issues such as algal blooms and eutrophication if the nutrients are washed into waterways and other bodies of water. This problem has increased in recent years when climate change caused extreme rain events in locations that were not used to them.
 
Multicote, Haifa’s controlled release fertilizer, is one solution for areas vulnerable to such rain occurrences. In contrast to topsoil spread application, which exposes a large amount of fertilizer to the rain with each application, Multicote is designed to slowly release nutrients over time, exposing only a small amount of fertilizer to the rain at any given time and thus avoiding excess nutrients from being washed away in the rain.
 
Haifa’s agronomists are finding the benefits of the Multicote in preventing fertilizer washing every winter, as evidenced by trips to wheat growers in Israel and the Balkans, as well as potato growers in South Africa.