Agronomic Efficiency: The Strategic Role of Amino Acid-Based Fertilisers

There is no sphere of human activity untouched by technological progress. Even when we believe we are doing something in the age-old, time-honoured way of our forefathers, there are invariably refinements in the technology that help make the result even better. Humanity long ago recognised the value of applying fertilisers; yet whereas these were once of organic origin, today the advantage lies firmly with amino acid-based fertilisers.

What Are Amino Acids, and Why Does a Deficiency Occur?

Amino acids are the fundamental building blocks of proteins, which in turn represent a specific sequence of amino acids arranged in a chain. Proteins are present in every cell of the plant organism, performing particular functions according to the type of protein. Under conditions of stress, the plant's production of amino acids slows or halts altogether; and if this deficiency is not compensated for, the crop faces extremely serious consequences.

Amino acid-based fertilisers rank among the most sought-after agricultural products, particularly in light of increasingly pronounced climate change. On the one hand, a steadily growing population demands ever greater quantities of food each year; on the other, no one has abolished April frosts or the emergence of new pests atypical for a region, which can wholly destroy young crops. Amino acid-based products are one of the reasons why, in our era, no natural disaster leads to famine.

It would be a mistake to assume that amino acid-based fertilisers are suited only to acutely emergency situations. Nor should one think that a sudden snowfall is the only form of stress a plant may endure: scientists identify so many stress phenomena that they have divided them into two broad categories.

Abiotic factors are independent of other living organisms; they are most simply described as the caprices of climate, including that very same unexpected snowfall. Excessive solar radiation, temperatures that are too low or too high, drought or waterlogging, a shortage of oxygen or carbon dioxide, an improper balance of mineral components in the soil, damage caused by strong winds — all of these are stresses capable of finishing off a plant left without proper support.

Biotic factors, by contrast, involve the active influence of other representatives of living nature — the activity of harmful micro-organisms, insects or rodents, industrial pollution of the surrounding environment, and excessive competition with other plants for essential resources. Here again, the level of threat is not necessarily devastating from the outset: everything depends on a given plant's ability to resist, to withstand negative phenomena, and to survive.

Unless a crop is grown under the ideal conditions of a laboratory, it will inevitably encounter at least one of these forms of stress — even if the farmer does not notice it — and this happens every single year. Some factors, predominantly abiotic ones, may exert only a short-lived influence and disappear of their own accord; others act over prolonged periods and demand immediate remedial measures from the grower. Applying amino acid-based fertilisers helps restore a damaged, weakened plant.

How Exactly Do Amino Acids Help the Plant?

Every plant is composed of individual cells, yet the cells themselves are not the smallest unit of division — they are made up of various substances. Protein, known to everyone since childhood as one of the three vital components of a balanced diet, represents a particular sequence of amino acids. The absence of any single amino acid means the organism is unable to synthesise a given type of protein, and its cells are therefore incomplete!

Nature contains roughly one hundred amino acids, yet only about a fifth of them are typical constituents of most proteins. Unlike animals, a plant synthesises the vast majority of the amino acids it requires by itself, through photosynthesis. Stress factors, however, slow photosynthesis down; amino acids become too scarce, the required quantity of protein is not produced, and the plant ceases to develop — or, in the worst case, dies altogether!

The necessary amino acids can also be extracted from organic fertilisers, where they are likewise present; but there they are already bound into specific protein sequences that must first be broken down. A plant is capable of doing this, yet such an operation demands considerable effort, which is doubly complicated by the stress factors already at work. Amino acid-based fertilisers, by contrast, contain precisely free amino acids — those that are unbound and ready to form the new proteins a particular organism requires!

Glycine, for instance, strengthens cell walls and prevents micro-organisms and toxins from penetrating the cell, while simultaneously stopping too much water from escaping. It follows that a fertiliser containing glycine is beneficial for all plants grown in the arid climate typical of much of Ukraine.

The phytohormones of the auxin group likewise require amino acids for their synthesis. The function of these hormones is to form the root system in young plants. The more branched and extensive that system is, the more productively the roots locate and deliver the necessary mineral substances to the various parts of the plant — which likewise promotes full development and rapid growth.

Arginine — yet another amino acid — helps the crop absorb nutrients fully. Without arginine, chlorophyll cannot form, which means there is no photosynthesis, no synthesis of sugars, and no question of effective fruiting. Amino acid-based fertilisers thus prove beneficial throughout the entire growing season — from emergence to harvest.

Conclusions

The timely and correct application of a product based on the group of essential amino acids delivers the following benefits:

● the plant recovers from stress more quickly;● the phytohormonal balance is restored;● development of the root system accelerates, and the crop absorbs nutrients more efficiently;● photosynthesis is intensified.

And thanks to all of the above, the plant becomes more resilient to any adverse external factors whatsoever!

This article was written by the Kysson company on commission for Halomlab.

22 October 2020