Portal de Cartagena
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Researchers from the School of Agronomic Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) in collaboration with Sulfato Cálcico del Mediterráneo SL, a company of the Torralba Group, have developed a new protocol to apply calcium to the horticultural crops in fertigation (localized irrigation) using sulphate calcic.
This avoids contamination by nitrates in soils by replacing calcium nitrate where no more nitrogenous fertilizer is needed or in organic crops.
This development has been carried out in the last four years with financing from the company and collaboration in the crops of leading companies in the sector, located in the Region.
Researchers have successfully applied this product to nectarine, lemon, organic table grape, tangerine and apple.
Calcium sulfate is used as fertilizer and to improve the texture of agricultural soils.
It also reduces the salinization of soils due to the habitual use of waters with a high content of salts.
In recent years these waters of poor quality have been used in most of the Southeast.
This use has caused the salinization of a large part of the soil.
The new methodology and application protocol replace calcium nitrate synthesis in fertigation by calcium sulfate, an ecological and natural product.
To the environmental advantage, the lowest price of calcium sulphate is added, says the researcher in charge, Francisco Artés Calero.
The development, as highlighted by the researcher, is especially important for the vast majority of crops in the Guadalentín Valley, the Campo de Cartagena, the Vega Media and the Northwest region, where the tests have been carried out, since it avoids contamination by nitrates of soils and waters.
Only around the Mar Menor, an area classified by the Ministry of Agriculture as "vulnerable", some 30,000 hectares of fruit and vegetables are cultivated.
The company Sulfato Cálcico del Mediterráneo SL is dedicated to the commercialization of calcium sulphate dihydrate, sometimes called "agricultural gypsum", which is extracted in the quarries of the Almerian town of Sorbas, property of the Torralba Group.
The researchers of the Post-Collection and Refrigeration Group of the UPCT Francisco Artés Calero and Francisco Artés Hernández participated in the different projects that have led to this development;
the agricultural technical engineer Antoliano Riquelme;
several technicians of the participating companies and collaborators during the field testing phase;
the doctor by the UPC Ginés B. Martínez and the students of degree and master of Agronomic Engineering and doctorate in TAIDA José G. Abril, Diego J. Águila, Rubén Pérez, Alejandro Vidal, Noelia Castillejo and Mª Dolores Ángel.
Source: UPCT
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