Nitrogen is one of the most crucial elements for biological systems and is required in large amounts by plants for efficient growth. Recently, there have been questions about the benefits of N-fixing biologicals. By thinking in ROI terms, we see increased net returns.
Reducing fertilizer N rates can result in improved ROI due to lower input expenses, and it also produces environmental and sustainability benefits. A lack of positive benefit of microbial inoculants in the field is often attributed to application of the product where it is not needed (the system), exposure to adverse soil conditions (the environment), and/or poor application practice (delivery).
As we mentioned, in our previous post “The System” regardless of the claims, a microbial inoculant will only be beneficial if it is targeting a significant limitation in the soil where it is applied. Routine soil tests measuring available soil N can be used to indicate potential for biological N-fixing products to provide benefit.
For more a more detailed discussion of The System, The Environment, and Delivery, see our FULL article Fixing our perspective on N-fixing.
