Project description
Scientists get their 'Mo-jo' working to help crops grow
Just as we look to a diet high in vitamins and minerals to keep ourselves healthy, plants require essential micronutrients. Molybdenum (Mo) is important for plant growth, and deficiency can have detrimental consequences for agriculture; therefore, mineral fertilisers enriched in water-soluble forms of Mo are commonly used. However, the fast release of Mo from soluble forms makes it difficult for plants to get what they need, as their access to Mo rapidly becomes limited due to losses by leaching of these soluble forms to the groundwater. The EU-funded DEMOFERTILIZER project is developing slow-release fertiliser Mo compounds to better match Mo availability to plant need. Various formulations will be tested and compared to water-soluble Mo to find a way to make sure plants get the Mo they need.
Objective
The use of mineral fertilizers in crop production systems is strongly contributing to the competiveness of the agricultural sector as a whole, yet the importance of essential micronutrients, such as molybdenum, is often overlooked. Molybdenum (Mo) is of key importance for plant growth as an essential component of the cofactor for enzymes in the N-metabolism. Mo deficiency in plants is often associated with N deficiency, and can thus have far-reaching consequences in agricultural systems. To overcome Mo deficiency, fertilizer Mo needs to be applied, which typically contain highly water-soluble forms of Mo, e.g. Na2MoO4. In acid Fe/Al-oxide rich soils, the fast release of Mo from soluble forms causes Mo to be quickly sorbed; in sandy soils fast Mo release results in high losses of Mo through leaching. In this project, the use of slow-release fertilizer (SRF) Mo compounds instead of water-soluble Mo compounds will be explored to better match nutrient release with plant demand and reduce Mo fixation and leaching. SRF formulations will be synthesized using different approaches (LDH and mechanochemical synthesis). Feedback between Mo desorption/solubility experiments and material synthesis will optimize the new SRF compounds. The new Mo fertilizer forms will be embedded in different macronutrient carriers, after which batch and column experiment will be performed to characterize the Mo release in an aqueous and a soil system to compare the release with that of soluble Mo fertilizers. Finally, a pot trial will be performed to assess Mo use efficiency and leachability of a new Mo SRF in comparison with soluble Mo fertilizers. Next to this research objective, the applicant will improve his research skills by receiving training in mechano-chemical synthesis, fertilize shaping and fertilizer testing (University of Adelaide), and in modelling and LA-ICP-MS (KU Leuven). The applicant will also gain experience in teaching, project management, dissimilation and communication.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
3000 Leuven
Belgium