ZM-Grow, now distributed in Great Britain by Hutchinsons, is the first zinc and manganese foliar fertiliser to be made from used alkaline batteries.
Registered and approved for use in the UK for both conventional and organic farming systems, Hutchinsons has added ZM-Grow to its growing range of low-carbon nutrition products.
“This is a really exciting product and is branded as a circular economy fertiliser by its Finnish manufacturer Tracegrow,” Hutchinsons fertiliser manager, Tim Kerr, said. “Put simply, Tracegrow has developed an innovative technology to extract, purify and reuse the Zinc and Manganese from alkaline batteries – up to 80 per cent of the trace elements found in alkaline batteries can be re-used.
“ZM-Grow ticks all of the pertinent boxes for sustainability, offers a reduced carbon footprint while also providing a high quality, effective micronutrient foliar fertiliser that meets a valid need by UK arable growers.”
ZM-Grow is a sulphate-based concentrate containing 60g/lit Zn, 67g/lit Mn and 75g/lit S. As balancing micronutrition can help improve nitrogen efficiency, using ZM-Grow should make a difference at a time when nitrogen prices are at an all-time high.
Hutchinsons has been trialing the product for the past two seasons and grower feedback has been very positive.
“The recommended rate is 2.0 to 3.0 litres in 200 to 400 litres of water,” Mr Kerr added. “In our trials we found it to be chemically stable, and have had no issues with mixing. It flows smoothly though filters and spray nozzles and doesn’t block them up.”
