Microwave Way To Boost Crops
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday May 17, 1988
Farmers soon may be flocking to buy microwave ovens in order to improve crop yields and food quality, according to agricultural researchers.
NSW Agriculture Department scientists have found a new technique to measure crop fertiliser needs which depends on farmers first drying a plant sample in a microwave.
Mr Peter Bacon, who helped develop the technique, said it was better than existing methods of measuring plant nutrient deficiency because it provided an almost immediate result.
"Traditionally farmers have been told how to handle next season's crop but this allows them to correct nutritional deficiencies almost immediately," he said.
"It's very important because it gets away from farmers having a gut feeling about whether or not they should apply fertiliser."
Mr Bacon, a soil chemist at the Yanco Agricultural Institute, said the technique allowed farmers to increase both crop yield and protein content for about one-sixth the cost of traditional forms of crop analysis.
It had proven successful in rice in a pilot trial over the past year. It would be commercially available by the beginning of next year and to wheat growers by 1992.
© 1988 Sydney Morning Herald