Department of Plant Sciences

Alkaline and hard irrigation waters are difficult to manage due to its high contents of bicarbonate, Ca and Mg which easily create insoluble compounds causing clogging of the irrigation system. Insoluble Ca and Mg compounds will not be formed if pH of irrigation water is kept continuously on the acidic side. Therefore farmers normally add acids to irrigation water in order to reduce water pH. This involves additional treatment with hazardous liquid acids which are difficult to handle and store.

PeKacid™ is a new fertilizer, it is highly acidic (pH=2.2), fully-soluble phosphorus (60% P2O5) and potassium (20% K2O). The same acidification effect can be achieved by using PeKacid™, and no additional treatment with hazardous liquid acids is required any more. PeKacid™ provides acidity to neutralize and dissolve bicarbonates, thus avoiding the problem of scaling and clogging of pipes and drippers in the sensitive drip irrigation system. This will result in many benefits, like longer lifespan of the irrigation systems, uniform and efficient distribution of irrigation water and fertilizers, less work needed and reduction in acid requirements.