AGROBALANCE Variable Rate Fertilization

The subscription service AgroBalance Variable Rate Fertilization provides four-year carefor crops and soil in each year of the subscription, as well as regular consultations and preparation of professional recommendations for variable fertilization by the agronomist team of NIK Agro Service.

To form a certain amount of output of a particular crop, the agronomist takes into account what amount of nutrient elements are in the soil and what amount needs to be added through the application of fertilizers to obtain the desired yield. The recommended amounts are always in the active substance, and the customer himself chooses what kind of fertilizer product to use. With the service AGROBALANCE Variable Rate Fertilization, cost optimization, leveling soil stock and achieving maximum results are achieved.

1. Automated sampling for variable rate product application (0-30 cm) with special test ground equipment and automatic probe. Determine the variation of food stocks by zones in a given block by taking four times as many samples as compared to Standard (ISO) sampling. Each user receives access to information about: the exact path of the samplers; the location of the cells from which the soil samples are taken, within the boundaries of each individual block.

2. Soil analysesin a specialized laboratory NIK Agro Service, accredited under the BDS.

Analyze the following indicators:

• soil reaction (pH);
• nutrients (total mineral nitrogen — ammonium N-NH4 and nitrate nitrogen N-NO3), digestible phosphorus (P2O5), exchangeable potassium (K2O), digestible forms of calcium (CaO), magnesium (MgO), sulfur (S), sodium (Na2O), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn) and boron (B).

3. Preparation of digital agrochemical maps, containing information on the distribution of the following indicators: soil reaction (pH), nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — only for the first year of subscription.

4. Drawing up a balanced fertilization planThe agronomic team of the NIK Agro Service draws up a balanced fertilization plan for each plot and the corresponding crop on the principle that in poorer areas a greater amount of a given element is applied and the more stocked areas can be made less to zero fertilization.

5. Preparation of variable rate fertilization prescriptions— for the application of phosphorus and/or potassium. Drawing up a VRA-map in digital format that can be imported into a Trimble navigation display.

6. Collection of control samples during the growing season— one plant and its corresponding soil sample from each block. Plant tissue analyses provide information regarding the current nutritional status of plants and help confirm or rule out visually diagnosed symptoms. Analysis of control samples for the content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, sodium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese and boron. The agronomist team monitors the condition of the crops and prepares a document with comments on the results obtained and guidelines for follow-up.

7. Post-harvest control soil sampling— 20% of the initial number of samples. Based on the results obtained, the agronomists of the NIK Agro Service prepare recommendations for fertilization for the next business year.

8. Drawing up variable-rate fertilization prescriptionsfor the next business year.

All users of the AgroBalance service receiveaccess to the Agrimi Crop Monitoring Platform, where they visualize:

• the route and the soil sampling points;
• the digital agrochemical maps of the stock of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and pH of the respective plot
• digital maps for the application of variable rate fertilisers.