New generation soil conditioning technology
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Davy will discuss why only ‘degraded’ soils are considered poor and in need of improvement when, perhaps, all soils lack certain Presentation for SoilsCon17 (http://www.timohare-associates.com) on physical, chemical and/or microbiological features to be in an optimum state for plant development, requiring a new generation of soil conditioning technology.
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New generation soil conditioning technology
- 1. New Generation Soil Conditioning Technology Davy Ottevaere • Technical Manager TerraCottem bvba • Henley-on-Thames, U.K.
- 2. New Generation Soil Conditioning Technology Who? What? Why? How?
- 3. New Generation Soil Conditioning Technology Who? What? Why? How?
- 4. What is soil conditioning? Products incorporated in the soil… Improving its physical and/or chemical features… To compensate a feature which can be limiting to plant development… What
- 7. What is soil conditioning? Products incorporated in the soil… Improving its physical and/or chemical features… To compensate a feature which can be limiting to plant development…
- 8. QUESTION What are the main issues you face in the establishment and maintenance of your projects? To compensate a feature which can be limiting to plant development…
- 9. ANSWERS What are the main issues you face in the establishment and maintenance of your projects? Budget Water Plants People Soil Climate Vandalism
- 10. CONSEQUENCES What is the long term effect if you don’t address the issues?
- 11. ANSWERS What is the long term effect if you don’t address the issues? Higher operating cost Incomplete project Replace plants Higher liability Having to redo the job
- 12. • Inadequate plant holes • Inert soils • Pollution, salinity, … • No (or loss of) soil structure • Water retention • Nutrient retention • Lack of water • Irrigation & traffic disruption • Irrigation fails • Waterlogging • High mortality rate • … SITUATIONS
- 13. History of soil conditioning… - Since early times… - Until end of 18th century “humus theory” was widely accepted - In the 1830’s first scientific evidence for the mineral basis for plant nutrition. - However, soil science grew slowly for the next 100 years. - Early 1900’s soil erosion (drought, tillage) became a major problem for farmers. - More recently soil amendments were developped…
- 14. History of soil conditioning - Since early times… - Until end of 18th century “humus theory” was widely accepted - In the 1830’s first scientific evidence for the mineral basis for plant nutrition. - However, soil science grew slowly for the next 100 years. - Early 1900’s soil erosion (drought, tillage) became a major problem for farmers. - More recently soil amendments were developped… Soil erosion control Improve soil structure Increase nutrient content… … and nutrient retention Optimize air-water content Improve drainage WRC … …Why?
- 15. History of soil conditioning - Late 1940’s and early 1950’s: Krilium … linear PAM
- 16. History of soil conditioning - Late 1940’s and early 1950’s: Krilium … linear PAM - Cross-linking with salts of acrylic acid - Diaper industry vs. agriculture … Na+ vs. K+/NH+
- 17. History of soil conditioning - Early 1980’s: Prof. Dr. Willem Van Cotthem and a team from the Laboratory of Plant Morphology, Systematics and Ecology at the University of Ghent (Belgium)
- 18. History of soil conditioning
- 19. History of soil conditioning
- 20. History of soil conditioning
- 21. History of soil conditioning - Early 1980’s: Prof. Dr. Willem Van Cotthem… Years of testing (1993) The TerraCottem principle “even in the poorest soil conditions a wide variety of indigenous trees, grasses, vegetables and herbs flourished, reversing the devastating pattern of desert encroachment, deforestation and wind erosion.”
- 22. - Soil conditioning principle tested in other cultivations, climates and applications… History of soil conditioning
- 23. What do plants need to grow? - Oxygen - Water - Mineral nutrients - Some organic growth activators All these elements are normally absorbed by the roots (some also through the leaves). → They are present in the TerraCottem® soil conditioners. …How?
- 24. Law of the limiting factor (based on Liebig's law of the minimum): Plant growth is controlled not by the total amount of resources available, but by the scarcest resource (limiting factor). → The TerraCottem soil conditioning technology offers all ingredients required for qualitative plant development. What do plants need to grow?
- 25. A soil is a complex and heterogeneous environment for the plants Soil science: • Soil physics • Soil chemistry • Soil biochemistry • Soil microbiology • Etc. An integrated approach is needed to cover all these aspects. → The TerraCottem® soil conditioners improve several soil properties. What do plants need to grow?
- 26. The TerraCottem® soil conditioning technology is defined as an effective soil conditioner consisting of a proprietary mixture each of more than twenty components from different groups all assisting the plant growth processes in a synergetic way. Growth precursors Hydroabsorbant polymers Fertilizers Carrier material What do plants need to grow? Youtube/myterracottem
- 27. Growth precursors • Play a very important role in the initial growth phase of the plant. • Activate root cell elongation and differentiation. • Promote leaf development and biomass production. => Roots are encouraged to grow more rapidly to depths where more water is present. What do plants need to grow?
- 28. Root development of Lepidium Sativum (garden cress) with and without growth precursors day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 What do plants need to grow? Growth precursors
- 29. What do plants need to grow? Growth precursors
- 30. Soil Sand 90/10 Sand 90/10 + TCT What do plants need to grow? Growth precursors Youtube/myterracottem
- 31. Hydroabsorbant polymers • Absorb water that is normally lost to evaporation and leaching: => reducing the volume and frequency of irrigation. • This water is kept at the disposal of the plant that accesses the stored water on demand through their root hairs. 97-99% What do plants need to grow?
- 32. Hydroabsorbant polymers What do plants need to grow?
- 33. pF - curve: Relation between - the“force” that is holding the water in the soil and - the volumetric percentage of water present, Suction force 100cm = WH Sand
- 34. Suction force Clay pF - curve: Relation between - the“force” that is holding the water in the soil and - the volumetric percentage of water present, 100cm = WH
- 35. Suction force pF - curve: Relation between - the“force” that is holding the water in the soil and - the volumetric percentage of water present,Loam 100cm = WH
- 36. Clay Loam Sand Suction force Field capacity = the amount of water held in the soil after excess water has drained away. 100cm = WH
- 37. Suction force Field capacity: => sand… barely 7% !!! Clay Loam Sand
- 38. Suction force Wilting point: the percentage of water in the soil that is no longer available for the plant roots Clay Loam Sand
- 39. Suction force Wilting point: 2% of this 7% is not accessable for the grass roots Clay Loam Sand
- 40. Suction force Wilting point Field capacity 7% - 2% = only 5% plant available water in a sandy soil 5% Clay Loam Sand
- 41. Suction force Clay: 50% - 28% = 22% plant available water 22% Clay Loam Sand
- 42. Zand Suction force Sand + TC soil conditioner
- 43. Zand Suction force 5% Sand WITHOUT soil conditioning
- 44. Zand Suction force Sand WITH TC soil conditioning 25%
- 45. Fertilizers • Offer a balanced nutrition program, • based upon macro and microelements. What do plants need to grow?
- 46. TCT Measured through CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) = the capacity of the soil to exchange positively charged ions with the soil solution; soil “fertility”; sand loam clay Carrier material • Selected for their: → own chemo-physical properties (CEC, WRC, etc.) → potential to allow homogeneous mixing of other components during production, transportation and application. What do plants need to grow?
- 47. CEC TCT = 150 meq/100g sand loam clay Carrier material • Selected for their: → own chemo-physical properties (CEC, WRC, etc.) → potential to allow homogeneous mixing of other components during production, transportation and application. What do plants need to grow?
- 48. Impact of each group of TC components on plant growth SY N ER GY : 21,32% Carrier (lava): 0.80% Growth precursors: 20.93% Fertilisers: 47.44% Polymers: 9.51% What do plants need to grow?
- 49. BENEFITS The proprietary mixture of different hydroabsorbant, nutritive, root growth activating and carrier components work in synergy, in order to obtain: • Better plant growth → Stronger & deeper root development → Faster & better plant establishment → Better seed germination • Optimal use of water → Increased water retention capacity • Optimal composition and use of fertilizers → Better plant growth → Increased CEC value • Increased microbiological activity • Higher resistance to drought stress and diseases • Enables plant growth in degraded, saline or otherwise marginal soils Water savings of up to 50% Healthier plants & increased yields Increased survival rate Earlier harvesting Less nutrient leach-off Better use of fertilizers What do plants need to grow? Impact of each group of TC components on plant growth
- 50. … 10 weeks after seeding Oudenaarde, Belgium 4 weeks after seeding… Lawns – sports turf - golf
- 51. … 5 years later, Chipiona, Spain Saline growing conditions Before… … 1 year later… Lawns – sports turf - golf
- 52. SpainShallow root zone & high summer temperature Roof gardens
- 55. U.K. Flower beds
- 57. … 6 years later Benalup, Spain Transplant of Olea europaea in very compactable soil… Trees
- 59. Green Asia Mongolia desertification prevention project Environmental restoration
- 60. Australia 2015…2014…2013… Transforming sewerage ponds into wildlife lakes Environmental restoration
- 61. Project "Green Hope" Burkina Faso Environmental restoration
- 63. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION ! #terracottem /TerraCottem @TerraCottem /TerraCottem www.terracottem.com
- 64. TerraCottem Intl S.L. www.terracottem.com info@terracottem.com THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION ! QUESTIONS ?
Editor's Notes
- Davy Ottevaere Technical Manager TerraCottem bvba Graduated in 2000 as bio-engineer in soil and water management from the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at the University of Ghent, Belgium. Master thesis ‘Soil Physical and Soil Mechanical Criteria for the Playability of Soccer Fields’ became the basis for the Belgian “GANDA – criteria’ for sports turf construction, Joined TerraCottem BVBA in 2000: R&D project management technical support
- SustAffor: 2013-2015 EU funded research project
- During this project, a range of innovative techniques were developed to mitigate the negative effects of drought and competing vegetation in tree planting, with the aim of creating new solutions which improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of tree planting
- During this project, a range of innovative techniques were developed to mitigate the negative effects of drought and competing vegetation in tree planting, with the aim of creating new solutions which improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of tree planting
- Back to the definition and the limiting factors…. We not only look at this from the plant growth point of view, but from the perspective of the entire project…
- We have asked that question in many countries, very different ones, and on many occasions over the last 23 years…
- Soil: poor, salinity, compaction, water logging, shallow, … Climate: rainfall, heath, drought, … Water: availability, cost, quality, … Plants: plant selection, quality, quick establishment, mortality rate, lack of root growth, pests & diseases, … People: management, knowledge, education, training, follow-up, expectations, … Budget: plants, but also people, inputs, maintenance, follow-up, …
- Soil: poor, salinity, compaction, water logging, shallow, … Climate: rainfall, heath, drought, … Water: availability, cost, quality, … Plants: plant selection, quality, quick establishment, mortality rate, lack of root growth, pests & diseases, … People: management, knowledge, education, training, follow-up, expectations, … Budget: plants, but also people, inputs, maintenance, follow-up, …
- Soil: poor, salinity, compaction, water logging, shallow, … Climate: rainfall, heath, drought, … Water: availability, cost, quality, … Plants: plant selection, quality, quick establishment, mortality rate, lack of root growth, pests & diseases, … People: management, knowledge, education, training, follow-up, expectations, … Budget: plants, but also people, inputs, maintenance, follow-up, …
- Since early times man has tilled the soil and added organic residues to improve it for agricultural purposes Humus theory: all necessary substances for plant growht came from the organc matter in the soil 1830’s: amongst which Liebig (remember the name) studied crop nutrition and soil fertility. A lot of people still believed that organic matter was key + abundancy of cheap and fertilile land. Early 1900’s: a lot of research and agricultural practices started to focus on mulching,
- Soil erosion control: wind & water Soil structure Nutrient content: many soil conditioners contain nutrient…) For example in soils with low CEC To improve air-water relations in the soil Improve soil drainage… and water retention capacity Avoid water repellancy….
- Krilium (Monsanto Company) = first commercial soil conditioner for garden and greenhouses Did not prove to be popular nor succesfull. A couple of reasons… will not elaborate to much, because then we would go to deep into chemistry etc.
- Important step, because this way it was possible to give the modified polymer a particular ionic character + more stable molecule. By playing with the number of crosslinking you can alter the biodegradation speed in the soil and vice versa the product longitivity Early days (still now): crosslinked polymers were used for diaper industry (and other) = much bigger market. Sometimes cheap off-spce materials still reach the agricultural market. Na+ (to reduce the smell of urine)
- Start of research to develop a method which would enable plants to grow along the front lines of this war against desertification, but with a minimal supply of water. This was the time of the massive famine in Ethiopia, Live Aid, etc. We all remember those images…
- Arbole, Burkina Faso (1988) Native trees planted with TerraCottem just before the rainy season.
- (1990) The same trees 2 years later.
- (1992) 4 years later
- (1992) 4 years later
- Today, our company’s R&D department still carries out research and development in conjunction with independent research facilities to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the industry After prof. VC’s initial research in Africa, his soil conditioning principle was tested in other cultivations, climates and applications Diversification TCU: The original TerraCottem®, renamed as TerraCottem Universal TCC: Complementary product for applications in flower beds and crops where TerraCottemUniversal has been applied the previous growing season TCT: TerraCottem Turf for turf applications, based on the original TerraCottem formula with new components to further increase grass growth and thus optimising the product’s performance TCA: TerraCottem Arbor created for the arboricultural and reforestation industry SustAffor: 4th generation hydroabsorbant polymers…
- We are talking about things plants need at soil level. There are of course many other elements that influence plant growth: sun, shade, soil physical characteristics, etc.
- Liebig's barrel—to explain Liebig's law. Just as the capacity of a barrel with staves of unequal length is limited by the shortest stave, so a plant's growth is limited by the nutrient in shortest supply. In biology it means that an organism can’t be stronger than the weakest link of its ecological chains of requirements Every living organism has limits to the environmental conditions it can endure. Environmental factors must be within appropriate levels for life to persist These factors are primarily responsible for determining the growth and/or reproduction of an organism or population. It may be a physical factor such as temperature or light, a chemical factor such as particular nutrient, or a biological factor such as a competing species. The limiting factor may differ at different times and places. The Law of Limiting factors states that too much or too little of any abiotic factor (non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems) can limit or prevent growth of a population of a species in an ecosystem. In biology, a limiting factor is a resource or environmental condition that limits the growth, abundance, or distribution of an organism or a population of organisms in an ecosystem.[1][2][3] The concept of limiting factors is based on Liebig's Law of the Minimum, which states that growth is controlled not by the total amount of resources available, but by the scarcest resource. In other words, a factor is limiting if a change in the factor produces increased growth, abundance or distribution of an organism, when other factors necessary to the organisms life do not. Limiting factors may be physical or biological. Limiting factors are not all limited to the condition of the species. Some factors may be increased or reduced based on circumstances. An example of a limiting factor is sunlight in the rain forest, where growth is limited to all plants in the under story unless more light becomes available. This decreases a number of potential factors that could influence a biological process, but only one is in effect at any one place and time. This recognition that there is always a single limiting factor is vital in ecology; and the concept has parallels in numerous other processes. The limiting factor also causes competition between organisms in which of the same species population. For example, space is a limiting factor. Many predators and prey need a certain amount of space between another in order to receive enough food, water, and other biological needs. If there is too much population of a species, they start competing for those such needs. This makes some of the population to fade away either by starving or leaving the area due to lack of food in the space the organisms fought over. Some other limiting factors in biology are weather conditions, and temperature. See Liebig's Law.
- These several soil properties are marked on the barrel of the following slide: Stimulation of microbiological soil life CEC Water retention capacity Increased root development
- No further elaboration regarding this topic as this would lead us too far into fertilisation and away from soil conditioning….
- Each TerraCottem component has its impact on plant growth but it is above all the synergetic effect of all the product’s components which makes the TerraCottem soil conditioning technology so unique and successful.
- Liedtspark
- Benalup
- Goyang International Flower Foundation Expo
- Kluisbergen
- Fareham Borough Council
- Olive tree planting, Los Nietos, Carmona (Sevilla), Spain Superintensive olive tree plantation (1.8 m x 4m), total surface: 5.3 hectares, 1388 trees per hectare
- Environmental reforestation at Christies Beach, Noarlunga Downs, SA, Australia a decommissioned coal plant is integrated in the existing coastal wetlands (2013)
- Ladang Sisek Nursery, Johor, Malaysia 1. Normal fertiliser application rate 2. TCU + 1/3 normal application rate 3. TCU