Feeding the world’s growing population

New Zealand’s reputation as a quality food producer is growing.

Optimising food production

Over the next 50 years farmers around the world will need to produce more food than has been grown over the past 10,000 years.

Best use from a limited resource

Fertiliser helps farmers produce food efficiently by replenishing the soil. But fertiliser needs to be used responsibly.

Responsible and sustainable nutrient management

The Fertiliser Association invests in research and tools to ensure farm profitability while minimising nutrient losses to the environment.

The Fertiliser Association of New Zealand promotes and encourages responsible and scientifically-based nutrient management.

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Effect of breeding for lowered cadmium concentrations in chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) on foliar micronutrient concentrations

Jim R Crush & Lily Ouyamg, AgResearch Ruakura, Hamilton, Greig Cousins, PGGWrightson Seeds, Grasslands Research Centre, Palmerston North
Completed October 2019

Introduction

Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is being used increasingly as a summer livestock feed option. It has been shown to take up soil cadmium (Cd) into the leaf, and there is heritable variation in leaf Cd concentrations. The plant growth rate and Cd concentration are not linked which means it is possible to breed for vigorous chicory growth with reduced foliar Cd. There is no information available on the effects of selection of chicory for leaf Cd on the concentrations of micronutrients that are important for plant or animal health. This report examines the concentrations of essential trace elements: iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), selenium (Se) and iodine (I), measured in chicory plants previously selected for either high or low foliar Cd, and progeny lines from crossings within the high and low Cd populations.

The study was jointly commissioned by the Fertiliser Association of New Zealand and the Ministry of Primary Industries.

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The full report has been published in the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research.

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The Fertiliser Association of New Zealand and Dairy NZ funded development of the Nutrient Management Adviser Certification Programme (NMACP). This industry-wide certification aims to ensure that advisers have the learning, experience and capability to give sound nutrient advice.

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Aqualinc awarded Innovation in Irrigation Award 2020

9 December 2020

Aqualinc has been awarded the Irrigation New Zealand Innovation in Irrigation Award for 2020, in recognition of their work for the Fertiliser Association on N-Wise irrigation strategies.

New published research relating to sustainable primary production

25 November 2020

Two PhD students who have been supported by the Association, have published information on their research. The first measures the impact of phosphate fertiliser derived fluorine on soil microbiology and white clover. The second analyses the effect of soil cadmium on root organic acid secretion by forage crops.


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