What benefits does sulphur provide for soil improvement and increased productivity and quality in vineyards?

 

• Elemental sulphur is not only a basic natural product for the protection of the vineyard. It also stands out for its nutritional and biostimulation properties.
• Thanks to the application of elemental sulphur in vineyards, a considerable improvement in soil properties can be achieved, in terms of pH and conductivity.
• SULTECH© technology offers an exclusive formulation that exponentially increases the biostimulant potential of elemental sulphur.

 

Since time immemorial, as reflected in multiple historical documents from ancient cultures such as the Greek, Roman or even Sumerian, elemental sulphur has been highly valued in the world of agriculture for its extraordinary natural ability to crop protection.

One of the main advantages offered by elemental sulphur lies in its completely natural and sustainable nature, which makes it an extremely recommended plant health solution compared to other alternatives derived from synthetic formulations in the laboratory.

But the main benefit that sulphur brings to the crops in which it is applied lies in the fact that its functionality is not reduced only to a protective purpose, but that, in turn, it has its natural capacity to favour the natural correction of soils and, at the same time, the slow release of sulphates so that these can be easily assimilated by the plant according to its needs, which significantly differentiates it from other products based on sulphates that are in soluble format.

Given the importance of these two aspects, we are going to delve into them below, also showing you why it will always be preferable to opt for sulphur based on AFEPASA's exclusive SULTECH © technology to contribute to the comprehensive improvement of your crops.

 

Elemental sulphur as a natural soil corrector

 

The differential factor of sulphur lies in its protagonism as an essential nutrient to contribute to greater crop development, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, thanks to its ability to act as a natural corrector for alkaline, saline soils or those in which the complex clay -humic, responsible for the fertility and richness of organic matter in the soil, has a high sodium saturation.

In the case of saline soils, the action of the thiobacteria present in the soil on the sulphur application carried out contributes to its natural transformation into hydrogen protons and sulphate ions, which, in contact with the sodium and chloride of the salts of the soil transforms them into two highly soluble compounds, such as hydrochloric acid and sodium sulphate.

This reaction is essential to facilitate the washing of salts from the soil and the reduction of its electrical conductivity, essential to increase the capacity of plants to absorb the nutrients present in the soil, which is blocked in an environment with a salinity and excessive conductivity.

This aspect is also evident in those soils in which the clay-humic complex is saturated by the presence of salts.

In these cases, the natural reaction of the sulphate ions, generated by the thiobacteria in contact with the sulphur, with the excess of sodium in the soil allow the clay-humic complex to be released from these levels and allow the presence of other nutrients, promoting the adjustment of its conductivity and pH.

Likewise, if the agricultural soil stands out for its alkaline character, the reaction caused by the sulphur in its contact with the soil bacteria leads to the reduction of its excessive concentration of calcium carbonate and, consequently, of its pH levels.

 

Elemental sulphur and its effect of slow release of sulphates

 

Unlike other products based on sulphur, but conceived for dissolution in water or directly in the form of sulphates, elemental sulphur is much less soluble, since it requires its transformation into sulphates by the bacteria present in the soil, which considerably reduces the losses produced by leaching.

In this way, with a substantially smaller number of applications, the plant obtains the nutrients it requires for its optimal development and growth, which also results in a considerable saving of resources and, therefore, favours a greater profitability of the derived harvest. of cost reduction.

Microscope images comparing the structure of normal mineral sulphur versus sulphur of microbiological origin.

 

Why opt for microbiological sulphur based on AFEPASA's SULTECH© technology?

 

Thanks to its determined effort in R+D+i, materialized in the development of its SULTECH© technology, AFEPASA has developed an exclusive format of elemental sulphur, of a microbiological nature, which exponentially increases all the natural properties associated with sulphur.

This SULTECH sulphur has the differential benefit that, having been generated from the action of bacteria and having an essentially biological origin, it is even more assimilable by the bacteria present in the soil.

In this way, the processes discussed above can be carried out through fertigation, concentrating the action of the product in those areas where it is most interesting to act on the improvement of the soil microbiome.

In this sense, a recent test carried out by AFEPASA in a vineyard estate in Villarrubia de los Ojos (Ciudad Real - Spain), through the application of its Microsul 40S product, managed to reduce the pH of the soil. At the beginning of the trial, the entire farm had a pH greater than 8. At the end of the cycle, in the control plot the pH had increased by 0.5 points, while this increase was completely neutralized in the rest of the farm thanks to Microsul 40S applications.

As a consequence, there was an increase in phosphorus absorption and better assimilation of micronutrients: iron, calcium, zinc and manganese. Thus, this improvement in soil properties contributed to a notable increase in the natural nutrition and biostimulation capacity of the plants present in the vineyard, considerably increasing the weight of the bunches, the number of bunches per vine and the yield of the harvest (weight for every 100 grapes), and all of this even by increasing the Brix Degree of the grape, relative to the concentration of sucrose present in the fruit.

Consequently, the use of Microsul 40S not only allowed a greater production of the plants present in the test plot, but it did so without affecting its quality and yield in any way, by improving the possibilities of the plant to absorb by itself, and in a totally natural way, the nutrients available in the agricultural soil.

 

 

Test results developed by AFEPASA in a vineyard estate in Villarrubia de los Ojos (Ciudad Real - Spain)