Looking after the soil, and himself

LOOKING AFTER THE SOIL,

AND HIMSELF

Waiuku vegetable grower, Martyn Callaghan, has cut his cropping area but boosted profits, thanks to a change in production practices. An onion breeder at EnzaZaden in Pukekohe for the past 30 years, Martyn also grows his own crops of potatoes, broccoli and pumpkins on the four hectares of land he owns.

Five years ago he started moving towards a more sustainable production system to improve soil health, encouraged by the positive reaction to the fresh vegetables he sold at the Pukekohe Farmers’ Market. “When using conventional lime, I didn’t like seeing how the heavy spreader unit caused soil compaction on wet soil, destroying organic matter and soil organisms,” he says. “The big thing for me is being able to spread lime on small areas any time of the year rather than putting a lime spreader truck through the paddock in autumn.” For the last three years he’s applied Calciprill, a granular lime product, applying 500kg/ ha to maintain soil pH in the 5.8–6.5 range. In his potato crops he’s using Calciprill banded with compost right underneath the tubers. “I want to secure a close association with the plant roots and soil biology,” he says. He’s finding the flavour of vegetables is better and puts it down to the moderated availability of nitrate through the use of compost in combination with Calciprill. “Calcium is one of the keys to plant health,” he says. “It’s one of the most under-rated nutrients in plants. It’s vital to ensure thicker cell walls so there’s less disease threat and dehydration. For potatoes it is scientifically documented that good levels of calcium in foliage helps to suppress late blight.” Calciprill is manufactured using lime from a Te Kuiti quarry which is finely ground to 2–6mm, with molasses used to form the granules. Calciprill dissolves quickly when it comes into contact with moisture and starts working within six to eight weeks, making it more readily available to plants.

Martyn Callaghan has been using Calciprill for several years

The big thing for me is being able to spread lime on small areas any time of the year rather than putting a lime spreader truck through the paddock in autumn

Calciprill has minimal dust and a low application rate of between 200–500kg a hectare, dependent on soil type and pH movement required. It’s widely used in Europe and Australia and is now available in New Zealand. Impressed with results across different farming and grower applications, Revital Fertiliser advisors have begun distributing Calciprill across the North Island. “The big lime truck’s a thing of the past, and my soil’s calcium requirement is being looked after using Calciprill,” Martyn says. His growing operation is now just one profitable hectare. “All I’m doing is making life easy for myself.”

For further information contact Elenka on 021 595 311 or email elenka@revital.co.nz