A research study conducted by Janaka Priyankara Wickramashinge from Iowa State University back in 2015 on the effect of “Calcite Foliar Fertilizer’ on Growth, Yield and Nutritional Composition of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) Cultivated under Field Condition as a Fodder for Dairy Cattle proves how effective calcite is.
Among the various ways of supplying nutrient to the crops, the efficient utilization of nutrients by the plants is made through foliar application. This experiment was conducted to find out the effect of calcite foliar fertilizer on growth, yield and quality of fodder Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench). For this study, Sorghum (sugar graze) plots were arranged in the field in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and, three different levels of calcite foliar fertilizer with control were used as treatments.
Treatments were T1-50% (1 g/l of water), T2-100% (2 g/l of water), T3-200% (4 g/l of water) and T4-control (0% of calcite foliar). Though the height of plants (m), circumference of the stem (cm), number of leaves and total length of leaves (m) were increased with the time, significant differences were not observed (P>0.05) at any stage of growth compared to the control (T4). Meantime, yield and proximate parameters were significantly influenced (P<0.05) by calcite foliar application. Hence, yield of sorghum at 7th week was 56107, 60160, 56747 and 49067 kg/ha for T1, T2, T3 and control respectively where the highest yield was related to T2 foliar application. Significant differences were observed for total chlorophyll content (mg/g of fresh weight) and soluble carbohydrate (%) content compared to the control (P<0.05).
Accordingly, it can be concluded that 100% of calcite foliar fertilizer level is more effective on growth, yield, and quality for Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) cultivation in the field level compared to the other treatments.
It shows it’s not rocket science, it’s the wonder of nature!
For full report https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301684361
