Should you buy cheap or expensive fertilizer? Understand the difference before you choose

It's spring plowing time again, and all kinds of fertilizer fill the market, with every possible ratio, and prices that vary greatly, sometimes by a huge margin. Every year at this time, farmers agonize over fertilizer: which one is best to buy? Buy expensive and you fear losing out, buy cheap and you fear it won't work, and if you buy a mid-priced one you don't know whether it's genuine.

1. What determines the price of fertilizer

The composition of fertilizer is mainly its nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content. For fertilizers with the same ratio, the cost difference is not great. Big-brand fertilizers use strict production processes, so production costs are a bit higher, but the results are better too. If fertilizers with the same ratio differ greatly in price, that can only mean the cheap fertilizer's content is insufficient. Given the current difficulty of oversight, many small manufacturers really do underfill the ratio. Some manufacturers skimp by 5-15 points of content; each point is about 50 yuan per ton, so 5 points is 250 yuan, and the cost difference per bag is about 15-45 yuan.

2. Why do some small manufacturers' fertilizers pass testing yet still differ in price from big manufacturers'?

Now the authorities only test N, P and K, so many small manufacturers just need to make a good show on the surface; famous big manufacturers also add various trace elements, about 300 yuan per ton, to meet the needs of high crop yields.

3. Why do cheap fertilizers sometimes work better at first than famous-brand fertilizers?

Ammonium bicarbonate takes effect the same day, but its effectiveness lasts only 15 days; ammonium chloride takes effect in three days, with an effectiveness period of 25 days. Urea takes effect in seven days, with an effectiveness period of 45 days; compound fertilizer takes effect in ten days, with an effectiveness period of 90 days.

4. How do you choose based on how fast or slow the fertilizer works?

Quick-acting fertilizer is absorbed by crops and takes effect very fast, so it is generally used as a top dressing, and can also be used as a base fertilizer. Slow-release fertilizers and controlled-release fertilizers have longer-lasting effects and are better suited for use as a base fertilizer.

5. Is expensive actually cheap, and cheap actually expensive?

Whether fertilizer is expensive or cheap cannot be judged by the price of a single bag alone; it should be measured by the fertilizer cost per mu. Cheap fertilizer is one 100-jin bag per mu, 100 yuan/mu. Famous-brand fertilizer is one 70-jin bag per mu, 90 yuan/mu, truly a money-saving good fertilizer. If you have used inferior fertilizer, then immediately switch to good fertilizer, the effect can compare with having used good fertilizer from the start. Use good fertilizer for three years in a row, and even if you skip fertilizer one year, the yield will not be low.

6. So which fertilizer should you buy that is both cheap and good?

Experts suggest it is best to buy brand-name fertilizer, whose quality is guaranteed. For the same big brand and the same ratio, differences in the manufacturer's advertising spend and marketing channels will also lead to different prices. Big-brand fertilizer, after passing through layer upon layer of distributors, becomes more expensive by the time it reaches farmers, who often have to pay a dozen or so yuan more per bag to buy brand-name fertilizer. But now there are e-commerce sales platforms like “Xinnongbao”, which sell big-brand fertilizer directly to farmers, letting them buy affordable, worry-free brand fertilizer, and technical service can also be provided through local service stations, truly bringing farmers real benefits. This is the best channel for buying agricultural supplies in the future.