April 2021 - 13

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development, stress and pest resistance,
carbohydrate generation, amino acid formation
and vitamin synthesis. Decreased efficiency in any
area becomes a limiting factor on crop yield and
potential, while it also plays a significant role in
how crops taste and smell, and how they perform
in subsequent use. For example, the all-important
gluten in wheat - giving bread its chewy, soft
texture - depends on sulfur-sulfur bonds. Good
breadmaking wheat needs good sulfur.
What's more, across all crops, sulfur deficiencies
rarely present with visible symptoms. Hidden
deficiency is often more damaging than acute
deficiency, as it's usually only discovered when it's
too late to remedy.
Sulfur also has another role, as a fungicide.
Indeed, sulfur-based fungicides were amongst
the first available to farmers and they remain
important today, whether applied to cut seed or as
a supplement in conjunction with modern blight
control chemistry.
What's the solution?
It's important to understand how plants absorb
sulfur. Their preference is for sulfates: this is
the only form in which plant roots can access
the nutrient. There's a limited role for leaves:
not only can they absorb small quantities of
sulfur dioxide direct from the atmosphere, they
also help to regulate nutrient absorption while
combating disease.
When applied as a foliar spray, the nutrients
slowly enter the plant tissue as required. But
when present on the leaf surface, sulfur's diseasesuppressing
abilities act in synergy with later
applications of fungicide and insecticide. So a
healthy plant can stave off infections itself, putting
less strain on modern fungicides within the program
and reducing the risk of fungicide resistance.
It's no coincidence that the incidence of diseases
such as blight increases where potato plants
display even moderate sulfur deficiency. Yet
during the growing season, a crop's sulfur
requirements can often greatly exceed the soil's
inherent capacity to supply it - particularly as
levels are now in decline.
Choosing the right product is important. At OMEX®
our focus is on products that are immediately
,
© OMEX® Agrifluids, Inc. 2021.
As for sulfur 'philosophy', i.e. application, take
the little and often approach. This way, you'll not
only reduce leaching - environmentally unsound
but also representing an immediate loss to your
bottom line - but maintain sulfur at sufficient
levels both in the soil and on the leaf, such that it's
always available to the potato crop during periods
of rapid growth. In this way, lack of sulfur is never
going to become a limiting factor in your pursuit of
optimizing yield potential!
Consult your agronomist for the rate of
Sulphomex Ultra®
that's right for your crop.
Between 1 and 3-1/2 pints per acre, integrated
into early season insecticide and fungicide
sprays, will not only build sulfur content within
the plant, but also provide the crop with a
additional mode of suppressive action that can
build the foundation for a healthy, high-yielding
and disease-free crop.
Learn more at www.omexusa.com.
The product names and brands referenced here are
registered and trademarks of OMEX®
Agrifluids, Inc.
bioavailable, either because they're unaffected
by soil microbial activity or because they take
advantage of specific plant characteristics.
OMEX® Sulphomex Ultra® is our solution for
potatoes. Although it contains multiple sulfur
sources, it's not registered as a fungicide, but as
a fertilizer - reflecting the importance of sulfur
we've already described. Its co-formulation of
sulphate and nitrate allows immediate use by
the plant of the form of nitrogen most readily
absorbed by plant roots.
http://www.omexusa.com
April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2021
