What Are the Effects of Calcium Formate on Crops?

What Are the Effects of Calcium Formate on Crops?

As a novel feed ingredient newly developed worldwide, calcium formate has a wide range of applications. It can be used as an acidifier, mildew inhibitor, antibacterial agent and other additives in various animal feeds, and can replace sodium citrate, fumaric acid and other feed acidifiers. It can reduce and regulate the pH value of the digestive tract, promote digestion and nutrient absorption, and has disease-preventing and health-care effects, with particularly significant effects on piglets.

Calcium formate is a typical secondary nutrient element, and its required dosage is significantly lower than that of the three elements in nitrogen fertilizers. However, in the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, the situation is not as people think. 80% of vegetables and fruits have a higher demand for calcium than phosphorus, and the demand for calcium in some crops even exceeds that for nitrogen. From the perspective of demand volume, a large amount of calcium is essential for the growth and development of crop roots, stems and leaves. So what effects does calcium formate have on crops?

Calcium formate is an indispensable nutrient element for plants and also a key component of plant cells. Plants deficient in calcium cannot undergo normal cell division. In severe cases, buds will shrink, making them prone to pathological diseases and insect pests.

Therefore, calcium deficiency will hinder the formation of plant cell walls, thereby affecting cell division. A typical symptom of calcium deficiency in crops is fruit cracking. For instance, the cracking of fruits like grapes and tomatoes is often attributed to temperature and moisture, but the real underlying cause is calcium deficiency.

Supplementing calcium and zinc can inhibit the invasion of pathogens and reduce the incidence of crop diseases and insect pests. In addition, it can alleviate the damage caused by certain ions in the soil (such as potassium, hydrogen, aluminum, sodium and other ions) to crops, and eliminate the toxic effects of organic substances during the entire process of plant cell metabolism. During the fruit ripening stage of crops, plant senescence is closely related to the production of ethylene. Calcium formate can regulate cell membrane permeability to inhibit ethylene biosynthesis, thereby delaying plant senescence.

When the calcium content in fruits is relatively high, it can effectively reduce decay during post-harvest storage, extend the storage period, and improve the storage quality of fruits.