Soil adherent pellet and active agent delivery with same
A soil adherent pellet is detailed that includes a soluble calcium ion source, a magnesium ion source, or both present in an amount ranging from 15% to 99.9% by weight of a total dry weight of the pellet and a binder present in an amount ranging from 85% to 0.1% by weight of the total dry weight of the pellet. The pellet having a mean pellet domain size and a pellet surface. The soil adherent pellet is well suited for flocculating clay within the soil and delivery of an active ingredient with reduced runoff compared to prior art broadcast particles. A soil adherent pellet is also provided having a soluble calcium and/or magnesium ion source that is polycrystalline and carries therewith an active ingredient.
1. Soil adherent pellets to be applied to soil comprising:
gypsum or calcium chloride present in an amount of 15% to 99.9% by weight of the total dry weight of each of the pellets, said gypsum or calcium chloride producing soluble calcium ions in the soil;
a phosphate containing fertilizer in each of the pellets; and
a binder present in an amount from 85% to 0.1% by weight of the total dry weight of each of the pellets, each of the pellets having a surface and a pellet mean domain size of from 0.1 to 30 mm, each of the pellets having a moisture content of less than 0.5% by weight, wherein runoff of phosphate from said phosphate containing fertilizer is reduced compared with a delivery pellet based on non-soluble dolomite fines.
2. The pellets of claim 1 wherein said phosphate containing fertilizer is present from 0.05 to 95 total dry weight percent of the each of the pellets.
3. The pellets of claim 1 wherein gypsum is present.
4. The pellets of claim 1 wherein calcium chloride is present.
5. The pellets of claim 1 further comprising a surface coating on the pellet surface.
6. A process for reducing runoff of phosphate from soil comprising:
applying the pellets of claim 1 to a soil; and
wetting the soil to induce said phosphate penetration into the soil to inhibit runoff of said phosphate.
7. The process of claim 6 further comprising adding a magnesium ion source into each of the pellets and further comprising reacting said magnesium ion source in the soil with an ammonium ion source and said phosphate to form a precipitate of struvite in the soil.
8. The process of claim 6 further comprising reacting said gypsum or calcium chloride with clay in the soil to flocculate the clay and form a pore in the clay around each of the pellets.
9. A process for reducing increasing porosity in a clay-containing soil comprising:
applying the pellets of claim 1 to the clay containing soil; and
wetting the clay-containing soil to induce said gypsum or said calcium chloride to react with clay in the soil to flocculate the clay and form a pore in the clay around the pellets to increase porosity in the clay-containing soil.