Exporting Spanish River Carbonatite
Benefits to Nepal
Benefits
Needs of the importing nation
Nepal is split up into three different ecological regions the terai, mountain and hills. It is evident in Nepal that agriculture in the hill and mountain region is be greatly affected by soil degradation through erosion. This is an issue found across Asia as both China and India report loses of nutrients due to erosion (Tiwari et al., 2009) Nepal is found in-between these countries and face the same issue of land degradation due to slope steepness, overgrazing, deforestation and intensive agriculture. These issues result from a growing population demanding an intensification of land used for agriculture along with the natural causes, intensive rain showers and landslides destroying man-made terraces used for cultivating crops (Shrestha et al., 2003). The nutrients lost from erosion need to be returned to the soil through chemical fertilizers or agro-organic fertilizers as they are vital to productivity of crops. Organic fertilizers like Spanish river carbonatite are already being tested in Asia and found to produce almost 121% higher than untreated crops (Adhikary et al., 2012).
Benefits of SRC to Farmers
A study done by Wilfrid Laurier University of the affects of Spanish River Carbonatite on soil when apply in conjunction with a chemical nitrogen solution compared to plants given full macro and micro nutrient fertilizer solution resulted in an overall benefit to the soil and yield. The study proves with a concentration of 1:10 SRC helps maintain ideal soil PH and microbial community. It is beneficial to farmers in Nepal and across the world to increase yield and seed size
Graph from Jones 2015
Liming and buffering affect on soils
Spanish river Carbonatite is a soil amendment that is beneficial for the acidic soil found in Nepal because it increases the pH in the soil and decreases the impact of aluminum solubility that can cause phosphorus deficiency. (Schreier et al.,1995., Jones, 2012). Acidic soils with a lack of phosphorous is a major constraint to agriculture in developing countries (Bationo et al., 2012) Jones (2015) research on SRC effects on soil pH levels shown in the graph on the left, found SRC improved pH levels in the soil and maintained it for the duration of the plant growth, whereas the chemical fertilizer made the soil 0.5 pH units more acidic. SRC would be a long term improvement of the soils in Nepal and reduce the acidification from continuous use of chemical NPK fertilizers and improve naturally acidic soils to maximise crop production and benefit Nepalese farmers (Subehia et al., 2005).
Soil Microbes
The soil microbes are vital to the use of nutrients for the plant as they can provide an almost continuous source of nutrients through breaking down organic matter within the soil (Preece and Read, 2005) The graph to the right show the ratio of 1:10 SRC doubles the amount of microbes in the soil and therefore help the plants use the nutrients already found within the soil.
Graph from Jones 2015
Increased dry weight & seed size
Graph from Jones, 2015
SRC out performs the chemical fertilizer in growth and yield giving the plant increased seed size and dry weight (Jones, 2015). This increase in yield and dry weight is highly beneficial to farmers as they will receive higher profits from their crops, the improved seed size will increase the size of the next year’s crop. The graph to the left shows the improvement of dry seed weight with SCR in the green and with nutrient solution and chemical fertilizer, in the white and grey. The SCR shows almost a 10g difference in seed weight. The subsistence farmers in Nepal will then produce a higher quality seed for years to come as they mainly reuse seeds from previous years. Across the world 90% of crops in developing countries are planted with farm saved seeds (Fao (guei) 2010) This improvement in the seeds and soil with better yields and production for years to come.
Capacity building
Along with maintaining soil structure and improving yields there is a need to implement and teach sustainable faming practices. A program that can be implemented by a NGO or government organization to teach cropping and seed production in rural Nepal similar to practices enforced though case studies in other developing countries (Guei, 2010).
Application of SRC
The farmers in Nepal that will use SRC can use a variety of application process but the main two suggested methods of application are broadcasting and micro-dosing. Farmers who can afford large amounts of SRC a fertilizer spreader can use for broadcasting. That way the fertilizer is spread evenly over the field and can be done before planting or after as a top dressing (Preece and Read, 2005) The second method, micro-dosing is the application of a bottle cap of fertilizer placed directly where the seed was planted or around a growing plant. This method is suggested for high results with smaller mounts of fertilizer (Fertilizer Micro-dosing, 2009) The suggested rate of application is 1:10 directly onto the soil or mixed into compost, that is out of the reach of most Nepalese farmers but in most test a 1:40 rate of application had similar effects to NPK solution while increasing the overall pH of the soil (Jones, 2015).
Contact info of Canadian companies
Boreal Agrominerals is the company in Canada that mines Spanish River Carbonatite. The company sells in wholesale to distributors throughout Canada and the United States. For more information go to: www.borealagrominerals.com
Spread-X is a Canadian company that sells fertilizers and soil amendments for sustainable and organic agriculture. For more information visit: www.spreadx.ca
Real world sales/marketing strategy to sell in Nepal
The issues in fertilizers distributed throughout Nepal in the past is the lack of information and transportation in the country. The lack of information and small literacy rate led to a distrust of fertilizers among poor farmers after the deregulation of fertilizer in Nepal (Sherchan and Karki, 2007) Transportation comes from a lack of money and infrastructure in Nepal, and there is the issue with importing totes of 1000kg. A company in Nepal or Boreal agromineral should market a 1kg bag that is under 10$ making SRC accessible and easy to transport
Future Studies
Future studies required to properly evaluate the export potential
In conclusion Spanish River Carbonatite holds great potential for soil amendment and to increase yields in Nepal to better fully evaluate the opportunity of exporting SRC further studies into the best application for SRC, soil conditions within Nepal, transportation costs, demand for organic fertilizers and potential subsides or government involvement.
There is no comprehensive soil map on Nepal and very little testing done within the country. Boreal Agrominerals suggest a soil test before the application of SRC, without testing the Nepalese farmers may not understand the long term affects or apply correct dosage.
SRC has very few independent research done on the effects and efficient application for different soils and continued research on removing the need for a nitrogen solution will further the application possibilities abroad (Jones, 2015).
There are too many unknown factors in the cost of transportation between Nepal and Canada to accurately give a price of the fertilizer in Nepal. A more comprehensive study on possible companies and demand within Nepal will help to elevate some cost and understand the full price. There is very little information on organic farms within Nepal, and organic produce gives added value to commodities. This has the potential to increase income of larger scale farmers when exporting and marketing their produce as organic.
The cost of SRC is too expensive for most farmers in Nepal, there is potential for subsidies and government intervention that will help feed a growing industry both in Nepal and Canada. Future research is need for the best way to introduce and subside SRC to Nepal.