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Polysulphate® fertilizer comes from the Polyhalite layer of rock, over 1000m below the North Sea off the North Yorkshire coast in the UK. Deposited 260 million years ago, it lies 150-170m below the potash seam at the ICL UK Boulby Mine. It contains four nutrients which makes it a unique product: sulphur, potassium, magnesium,and calcium. Its nutrients are readily available for plant uptake.
Unlike blended or compound fertilizer, Polysulphate is available in its natural state. It is mined, crushed, screened and bagged, involving no chemical separation or other industrial processes.
Field experiments conducted worldwide using Polysulphate® have demonstrated its efficacy in increasing crop yields and crop quality. The results have also indicated greater efficiency than standard sources of potassium and magnesium sulphates, as well as gypsum, with significant increases in yields. Read more about Polysulphate® on its designated website.
Crop productivity and crop quality are the most well-known major benefits of applying Polysulphate. Now the added benefit of low carbon footprint is set to make Polysulphate a fertilizer of choice for those farmers carrying out carbon counting on their enterprise and wanting to lower their carbon footprint.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of Polysulphate® is its low environmental impact. Polysulphate requires no processing and creates no waste products. The mineral is mined, crushed, screened and bagged with no chemical intervention or process. It therefore has a low carbon footprint fertilizer and helps farmers reach industry carbon targets.
In 2019, ICL concluded a full Carbon Footprint analysis for Polysulphate [pdf] and has compared the findings to other common fertilizers. The analysis was conducted by Filkin & Co. EHS Limited, a U.K. consultancy specializing in LCA and Carbon Footprint research. The calculated global warming potential value for Polysulphate is 0.034 kg CO2e per kg of product. This value was found to be the lowest out of a group of leading comparable products. It is so much lower that it is less than 3% the carbon footprint of ammonium nitrate.
ICL is expanding its Polysulphate family of products, to include PotashpluS (with four nutrients – K, Mg, S and Ca) and PKpluS (with five nutrients – P, K, Mg, S and Ca) and Polysulphate Premium. These products give farmers a different choice of applying sulphur rather than nitrogen-based products, which run the risk of creating ammonia emissions, polluting groundwater and acidifying soils. The prolonged availability of the sulphate in Polysulphate products benefits the crop and is more aligned to its needs during growth. This makes them very efficient fertilizers and reduces loss through leaching.
Polysulphate Premium is derived from polyhalite, a naturally occurring mineral mined exclusively by ICL in the UK. Polysulphate Premium is shaped in beautiful uniform spheres. It is round in shape, smooth and robust, flows well, and spreads further, as well as more consistently.
To continue ICL’s outreach to farmers through the COVID-19 pandemic multiple virtual events were conducted as well as online webinars. There was also participation in virtual exhibitions and conferences.
Polysulphate is approved for organic use in multiple countries.
Polysul-fit On-line Polysulphate Calculator: ICL has created a designated on-line tool for recommendations on the best usage methods for fertilizing with Polysulphate. The calculator is now available in the App store for iPhone and iPad and in the Play Store for Android phones.
The new Polysulphate App is a two-in-one (PolyBlend, and PolyProfit) tool that makes creating and comparing fertilizer blends with Polysulphate, and predicting the profit boost from Polysulphate, easier than ever.
Create and compare fertilizer blends with PolyBlend: The new Polysulphate App to precisely formulate targeted crop nutrition. Many farmers choose fertilizer blends. Now, with the PolyBlend tool in the Polysulphate App, a fertilizer blend with Polysulphate can be created and compared easily. With PolyBlend it is possible to choose from the selection of nineteen crop nutrition ingredients to create new fertilizers with the power of Polysulphate. Crop needs can be matched with a bespoke formulation of targeted, precise crop nutrition solutions for maximum plant productivity and profitability. The different blends created can be compared for nutrient composition and cost per unit.
Predict Polysulphate boost to profits with PolyProfit: PolyProfit predicts the potential increased profits of using Polysulphate on crops.
The user enters the crop, cropped area and market value of the harvest expected and it is possible to compare the crop performance from using a fertilizer program with Polysulphate compared with a blend without Polysulphate.
Polysulphate App for iPhone and iPad on the App Store.
Polysulphate App for Android devices on Google Play.
