Sorgum Plants

The project "Environmentally Responsive Biocomposite Fertilisers" is part of the Innovation Partnerships funded by the Advance Queensland initiative. This project is a collaboration between The University of Queensland, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Manildra Group and JCU. It aims to deliver a targeted next generation fertiliser for Queensland's expanding agrotechnology sector, as a commercial product for local manufacturers. These environmentally responsive fertilisers are novel formulations based on urea, tailored biopolymers and functional additives, and a step towards high-yielding, high-efficiency agriculture.

At the ERC in JCU we grew sorghum plants to test the new developed fertilisers in a tropical environment. We simulated leaching events, collected water samples and analysed nutrients losses in the water, nutrient content of the plants at harvest and final biomass.

Sorghum plants 2