Fulvic acid has a very wide range of functions in agricultural production, and its many characteristics determine its physical, chemical, and biological functions. Let’s discuss the mechanism and function of fulvic acid in agriculture as the topic below.
1. Increase Plants Yields & Quality
Improve Fertilizer Utilization: Fulvic acid contains functional groups such as carboxyl and phenolic hydroxyl groups. It has strong complexing, chelating, and surface adsorption capabilities, which can reduce the loss of ammonia nitrogen, increase the distance of phosphorus in the soil, and inhibit soil water solubility The fixation of phosphorus converts ineffective phosphorus into effective phosphorus and promotes the absorption of phosphorus by the root system; fulvic acid can absorb and store potassium ions and increase the content of effective potassium.
Experiments show that fulvic acid can increase the utilization rate of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium nutrients in fertilizers by more than 20%.
Improve Quality and Production: The active ingredients in fulvic acid are directly involved in the body’s metabolism, which is not only a nutrient substance but also a natural auxin. It can also accelerate protein synthesis, balance vegetative growth, and reproductive growth, increase plant chlorophyll content, enhance photosynthesis, increase dry matter accumulation, increase productivity and improve the quality of plant products.
Reduce Heavy Metal Pollution: Fulvic acid can complex heavy metal ions to form insoluble complexes, thereby reducing heavy metal pollution in the soil.
2. Increase Plant Resistance Ability
Drought Resistance: application of fulvic acid increased ABA content in plants, reduced stomatal opening and water transpiration of crops; Promotes proline formation. Develop root system, water absorption, and fertilizer absorption capacity. The soil water consumption rate is slowed down, so the ability to resist drought is enhanced.
Cold Resistance: Active ingredients can activate cold resistance genes and induce plants to produce cold-resistant proteins; High chlorophyll content, enhanced photosynthesis, dry matter accumulation, good plant growth; Activation of some enzyme activities, the plant’s cold resistance is improved.
Salt Resistance: The granular structure formed under the action of fulvic acid and plant roots can loosen the soil surface layer, prevent salt from rising along with soil capillary pores with water, and reduce salt accumulation on the soil surface.
The structure and porosity formed by fulvic acid complexation and chelation of metal ions in the soil can adsorb salt ions or molecules in soil solution and reduce the concentration of salt in the soil.
Disease Resistance: Fulvic acid can directly increase the content of soil organic matter and provide a good environment for beneficial microorganisms. The beneficial populations gradually develop into dominant populations and inhibit the growth of harmful pathogens. In addition, the plants themselves grow robustly due to the excellent soil conditions, and their disease resistance is strengthened, thus greatly reducing diseases, especially soil-borne diseases.
Fulvic acid contains carboxyl, hydroxyl, and other phenolic and benzene carboxylic acid structures, which are the same as the active ingredients of some phenoxy carboxylic acids and phenolic pesticides and have certain antibacterial and antiviral effects.
3. Slow-Release & Synergistic for Pesticides
Fulvic acid has the function of a surfactant, which can reduce the surface tension of water and emulsify and disperse pesticides. It can produce different degrees of ion exchange reaction with many pesticides.
Fulvic acid, as a colloidal substance with a large viscosity and a large surface area, may have a strong physical adsorption effect on pesticides.
Fulvic acid itself has antibacterial and disease resistance effects and the compounding with fungicides is equivalent to the compounding of two pesticides.