For plants that do not absorb most of the fertilizers supplied to them through soil, scientists have come up with a novel food made of glass which, according to a recent report, promises to increase t…
For plants that do not absorb most of the fertilizers supplied to them through soil, scientists have come up with a novel food made of glass which, according to a recent report, promises to increase their yield by giving optimum nutrition. The new micro nutrient glass, developed by scientists at the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI) in Calcutta, India has been tested on oil seeds and pulses with remarkable success rates. A team of four scientists led by Nisha Biswas of the Special Glass Unit, enriched glass frits with silicate and phosphate micro nutrients at a temperature of 1300 degrees Celsius to produce the special glass. “The glass food is meant for plants having low solubility in both acidic and basic medium,” said A K Chaudhuri, a member of the research team. Studies on solubility of glass frits in the phosphate, borophosphate and borosilicate systems prepared at the institute showed satisfactory results. Pot culture studies on sulphur containing frits on rapeseed-mustard farming, conducted at Hamdard University, Delhi, were also seen to significantly increase dry matter, pod number per plant and seed weight. “The micro nutrient glass assumes special significance due to the fact that conventional fertilizers do not impart 100% nutrition as most of their content is either lost to the soil or washed away with water,” Chaudhuri said. The glass frits are perfectly soluble and provide 100% nutrition, he added. Solubility of the glass frits increased with the increase in oxides of phosphorous, boron and sodium in solutions of different pH that was controlled by adjusting the content of potassium chloride and oxides of zinc and silicon in the base glass. Solubility also increased with decrease in pH of the solution and frit size, according to Chaudhuri. Studies on the water contact pH, which manipulates the environment in the vicinity of frit and plant roots, were carried out to facilitate the absorption of nutrient by the roots. The special glass food, to aid the farming of crops like mustard and rapeseed-mustard, showed remarkable increase in leaf area, photosynthesis, chlorophyll content and nitrogen assimilation in comparison to those of conventional fertilisers, he added.