Conducted by: Bruce Kirksey, PhD, Agricenter International, Memphis, Tenn.
Huma® Product: Huma Pro® Mix
Background
Scientific research shows that humic and fulvic acids are biostimulants—enhancing nutrient availability and uptake, improving plant root growth and mass, and impacting both crop yield and quality. Humic acid products are not all the same. They are marketed in solid and liquid forms. Some liquid humic acids (LHA) may precipitate and clog application equipment when added to high-acidic agrochemicals in tank-mixes. Huma Pro® Mix is a liquid product that is stable in a wide range of pH between 2.0 ( high acidic) to 12 (high alkaline).
Objectives
The first focus of this study was to observe if Huma Pro® Mix as a liquid source of humic acid with a wide pH range can improve cotton yield under a field condition. The other objective was to compare the yield effect of Huma Pro® Mix with another market-available liquid humic acid product. We will refer to the other liquid humic acid product as Second LHA. This Second LHA cannot be used when the pH of a tankmixed solution drops below 5.5.
Materials & Methods
Experimental cotton plots were established at the Agricenter International research facility in Memphis, Tenn. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with six replications. The cotton was planted on May 26 in a field that did not have any humic products applied prior to this study. The crop was harvested on November 14.
Huma Pro Mix cotton Table 1
Huma Pro Mix Cotton Table 2
The grower standard (GS) fertilizer program, including the source and application timings, are outlined in Table. 1. Huma Pro® Mix and the Second LHA were applied at planting and again 41 days later during the growing season (Table 2). At planting, separately, each Huma Pro® Mix and Second LHA were combined with 10-34-0 fertilizer and applied as in-furrow. Huma Pro® Mix and Second LHA were sprayed on the plant leaves and the soil surface for later application.
Huma Pro Mix Cotton Figure 1
Results
Huma Pro® Mix+GS significantly yielded higher than both Second LHA+GS and the GS-alone treatments (Figure 1). Huma Pro® Mix+GS caused the cotton lint yield to increase over the GS alone by 83.8 lb/acre, higher 9%. The Second LHA+GS increased the yield over GS by 23.9 lb/acre, higher 2.6%. The Huma Pro® Mix+GS was 6.5% higher than the Second LHA+GS treatment. Huma Pro® Mix+GS resulted in a 63% return on investment (ROI). The Second LHA had a negative ROI of -54%.
Conclusions
This research study confirmed prior results that adding humic substances to crop production programs can increase yield. Based on the results here, it is critical to choose a liquid humic acid product that can produce a large enough yield bump that justifies its use by giving a positive net return.
