Washington, D.C.-Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA’s chief scientific research agency, is seeking a company to license a new environmentally friendly slow-release fertilizer for lawns, turf, and other crops that scientists believe will reduce the potential for nutrient leaching and runoff into ground or surface waters. The next step, ARS reports, is to find a cooperative business partner to license the technology and develop it into commercial products ?Çô especially one for use on lawns and turf that are more prone to runoff and leaching. ARS says the new fertilizer, developed in Idaho, compares favorably with products on the market that use a sulfur or polymer coating for fertilizer granules. The ARS slow-release system is based on ion exchange mechanisms that more closely mimic natural soil processes, which gives the new technology a more consistent release over time. With existing slow-releases, ARA points out, the coating wears away slowly, delaying the release of fertilizer; but when gone, the remaining fertilizer becomes available in a fast cascade. The new fertilizer system can also be used on almost any crop and could be customized to the specific needs of a crop throughout its life cycle, according to co-developers Robert Sojka, director of the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory in Kimberly, Idaho, and former ARS soil microbiologist James Entry.
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