Iodine as a nutrient for novel fertigation fertilizers

“Innovation is the lifeblood of business”. Every company is looking for a distinctive product to get rid of the price war, which usually arises when competitors want to sell the same product to the same end customer.

In this blog you can read how the discovery of iodine as a micronutrient for plants led to the development of novel fertilizers for fertigation.

Iodine is a micronutrient for plants

As the person responsible for business development, I set up a multi-year scientific research program together with colleagues and top researchers to demonstrate that iodine is a micronutrient for plants. Sufficient iodine in the nutrient solution, applied with water-soluble fertilizers, leads to increased root mass, timely flowering, greater yields, improved quality of the harvested product, and increased plant resilience and pollen viability to abiotic stressors.

The addition of iodine to a nutrient solution (right) for hydroponically grown lettuce resulted in increased root and leaf biomass, compared to the same nutrient solution without iodine (left).

The discovery of new plant nutrients is rare

The discovery of new plant nutrients is rare. The last two discoveries go back to the year 1987 for nickel and around 1955 for chloride. The discovery of iodine as a micronutrient can therefore be seen as a breakthrough in scientific research into the most complete and effective plant nutrition.

Rapid recognition from the scientific community that iodine is a micronutrient

The scientific community’s recognition that iodine is a plant micronutrient was soon followed by its mentioning in the 4th edition of Marschner’s Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants (2022).

Development of novel water-soluble fertilizers based on iodine

Thanks to this discovery, existing water-soluble fertilizers can now be differentiated by the addition of iodine. A wonderful new story about an innovation in water-soluble fertilizers is born! Colleagues and distribution partners can tell this to their customers to arouse their curiosity, entice them to make a first purchase and then many more repeat purchases.

References

  1. Kiferle, Claudia & Martinelli, Marco & Salzano, Anna Maria & Gonzali, Silvia & Beltrami, Sara & Salvadori, Pierre & Hora, Katja & Holwerda, Harmen Tjalling & Scaloni, Andrea & Perata, Pierdomenico. (2021). Evidences for a Nutritional Role of Iodine in Plants. Frontiers in Plant Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.616868
  2. Kiferle, Claudia & Gonzali, Silvia & Beltrami, Sara & Martinelli, Marco & Hora, Katja & Holwerda, Harmen Tjalling & Perata, Pierdomenico. (2022). Improvement in fruit yield and tolerance to salinity of tomato plants fertigated with micronutrient amounts of iodine. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18301-w
  3. Hora, K. & Holwerda, H.T. (2021). Examples of iodine as micronutrient in plants, for improvement of the main commercial greenhouse crops cultivation. Acta Horticulturae. 205-212.
    https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1321.27
  4. Hora, K. & Holwerda, H.T. (2023). Loss of yield or lower fruit quality due to iodine deficiency in tomato and sweet pepper crops under heat stress can be prevented by application of potassium nitrate with iodine. Acta Horticulturae. 251-258. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2023.1372.33
  5. Brown, P.H., Zhao, FJ. & Dobermann, A. What is a plant nutrient? Changing definitions to advance science and innovation in plant nutrition. Plant Soil 476, 11–23 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05171-w
  6. Marschner’s Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants (2022). Ed: Zed Rengel. 4th ed. https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128197738/marschners-mineral-nutrition-of-plants?via=ihub=

Looking for support?

Are you looking for support in product development as a business growth strategy for one or more water-soluble fertilizers?  Please contact Harmen Tjalling Holwerda of HSPN Consulting.

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