At a recent convention, Silvia Zuccherelli from Sicural revealed how simple soil analysis can save you money and increase your profits in terms of yields and quality. In order to also assess the interaction with micro-organisms, you need experienced professionals.
"The interaction between plants and micro-organisms is continuously being researched as part soil analyses. Being aware of how soil is composed offers great potential."
Soil is sometimes neglected not only by growers, but also by technicians. It must also be said that analyses are too often seen as a piece of paper that needs to be attached to applications. Yet cost reduction does indeed start with analysis.
"At Sicural, in addition to traditional chemical and physical analyses, we can also perform multi-residue analyses to detect any contamination from previous crops. It may happen that active principles are detected that have not been used for the current crops but that date back to previous ones."
The tool analysed to analyze the soil
Analyses can also reveal the presence of heavy metals and assess if and how they affect absorption. Simple soil analyses are no longer the way as, even though micro and macro-elements are found, they are useless if they are not fully available. This is why it is said that cost reduction starts with analyses, as fertilizing can be organized better. In addition, Sicural also provides a personalized interpretation sheet so that growers can understand what type of soil they are dealing with and how to intervene.
At the "Focus sulle interazioni piante e microrganismi e benefici del suolo" held at Macfrut, Vincenzo Michele Sellitto (MS Biotech S.p.A. - Roma) and Raffaella Balestrini (Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle piante – CNR - Torino) also intervened. "Micro-organisms associated with roots have a great potential when it comes to innovative and sustainable agriculture, as they have a positive impact on plant growth and performance. It is possible to improve the health of plants and monitor fungi and stress due to climate change," explained Sellitto.
Left to right: Luca Rustignoli (Sicural), Raffaella Balestrini, V. Michele Sellitto, Silvia Zuccherelli and Giusy Riciputi (Sicural)
Raffaella Balestrini illustrated the symbiotic interactions that enable the improvement of yields without forgetting that, when it comes to the symbiosis between roots and fungi, plants benefit also from the resistance to disease and abiotic stress point of view.
Contacts 
Sicural
Via Dismano 2855,
47522 Cesena (FC)
Tel.: (+39) 0547/377303
Email: laboratorio@sicural.it
Website: www.sicural.it