TEST FIELDS

Extended open field tests have been planned and are in progress in three different farms that overall cover an area of 26 hectares two farms are located in Italy, one in Apulia with wheat cultivation, and one other in Calabria with vegetable cultivation. The third farm is located in Greece with wheat cultivation. The farms have been selected on the basis of soil characteristics (alkaline soils with a low content of organic matter, dry and hot summer with increasing desertification and degradation processes of soils).

The two farms that cultivate wheat, have been also chosen considering the pedoclimatic differences to verify if the new fertilizer is able to impact wheat independently from the climatic conditions.

In Calabria, southern Italy, with dry and hot summer and increasing degradation process of soils, 2 hectares are dedicated to test vegetables in seasonal crop rotation. Falcone Farm is located in San Lorenzo (Reggio Calabria) on soils with an alkaline pH poor in organic matter. After 9 month of field experiments after winter crop harvesting we observed an improvement in soil properties in presence of the new fertilizer RecOrgFert PLUS. The soil pH was significantly lowered compared to the other treatments, and the water content increased in soil doubling its value. This means that the parcels treated with RecOrgFert PLUS, correct the soil pH allowing plants to efficiently take up nutrients and the increase in water holding capacity require soils less water from rainfall or irrigation, increasing their resilience and reducing the cost of irrigation and associated infrastructure. An increase in organic matter content has been also observed while no changes in soil enzyme activities has been observed.

The experiment on wheat has been carried on in 13 hectares located in Lucera Foggia Apulia (Italy) to test durum wheat productivity. Soils belonged to the following textural classes sandy-loam, loamy sand and sandy. The soil analysis evidenced that the soil treated with RecOrgFert PLUS -decreased the pH conversely the other treatments increased the pH values, and the new fertilizer increased the water holding capacity of soils. Soil organic matter decreased in all treatments.