Brazil is the fourth largest consumer of fertilizers in the world. Among these, bulk blends fertilizers are the most consumed in the country. After updating of Brazilian legislation in regard to fertilizers in 2004, many producers claim that there was an excessive increase in the strictness of legislation concerning inspection of nutrient levels in those products. Within this context, the objective of this study was to provide an exploratory and descriptive statistical analysis to the data gathered by MAPA (Ministry […]

First regulations concerning contaminant contents in fertilizers were implemented in the State of Washington, USA. The objective of our study was to consider the events as a possible reference for a similar ongoing situation in Brazil. The significant role of the press, which kept people informed and aware about the problem of waste-derived fertilizers, is discussed. Several groups, some with divergent points of view, were called upon to contribute to the final legislation, which was backed up by relevant technical […]

The analysis of Brazilian commercial FTE fertilizers was the objective of this study, under application of routine laboratory methods used for the analysis of non-FTE fertilizers. Cd, Ni, and Pb contents were also determined. The methods proved to be adequate for the analysis of FTE fertilizers. This indicates that FTE fertilizers on the Brazilian market are not really FTE fertilizers; that is, they are not silicates founded with micronutrients. Uncontrolled contents of metal micronutrients in the products, as well as […]

The Brazilian fertilizer legislation requires that the presence of micronutrients be guaranteed by their total amount. This makes possible to use different products as source of micronutrients for fertilizers, but their agronomic efficiency is still doubtful. The purpose of this work was to characterize the micronutrient solubility and availability of thirty commercial fertilizers through five extractors: water, 2% citric acid, neutral ammonium citrate (1 + 9), 0.005 mol L-1 DTPA and 0.005 mol L-1 EDTA solutions. The results showed low […]