Iron Fertilization with FeEDDHA – The fate and effectiveness of FeEDDHA chelates in soil application
Iron chlorosis is a common nutrient deficiency in plants grown on calcareous soils, related to the poor solubility of iron at a high soil-pH (7,5-8,5). Iron deficiency negatively affects crop yields both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Soil-application of synthetic iron chelates increases the solubility of iron in soil solution and remedies iron deficiency. FeEDDHA is among the most efficiënt iron chelates. FeEDDHA based products consist of mixture of compounds (FeEDDHA components) that resemble each other, but differ in their behaviour in the soil and in their efficiency as Fe fertilizer. For an efficiënt soil-specific application of FeEDDHA products and for optimizing product compositions, knowledge on the factor that determine the fate and effectiveness of FeEDDHA components in soils application is essential.
From the results of plant experiments, interaction experiments with soils and soil constituents and chemical modelling it has been concluded that adsorption of FeEDDHA components to soil, in relation to reactions in which iron is displaced from the FeEDDHA chelate by other cations, largely determines the effectivenes of FeEDDHA components. The FeEDDHA components that are least susceptible for these processes (the o,o-FeEDDHA isomers) proved most effective as iron fertilizer.
Title thesis: "Iron fertilization with FeEDDHA – The fate and effectiveness of FeEDDHA chelates in soil plant-systems"