Effects of Foliar Fertilization: a Review of Current Status and Future Perspectives

The use of large amounts of chemical fertilizers promotes high-yield agriculture, but is also associated with a number of problems, such as low fertilizer utilization rates, soil acidification, and soil salinization. Comprehensive studies have shown that spraying chelated fertilizer on leaves can reduce the total amounts of fertilizer applied and achieve high fertilizer efficiency. Foliar fertilizer application after soil fertilization is an effective method to increase the contents of trace elements in crops and crop yield, and to improve the soil environment. However, the application of inorganic foliar fertilizer results in difficulties in nutrient absorption and migration in plants. Chelated foliar fertilizers are effective for improving element utilization efficiency, crop yield, and quality. The physicochemical properties, molecular structure, chelating strength, and chelating rate of chelating agents modulate the effects of application of nutrients. This study reviews and discusses the effects and problems associated with sugar alcohol–containing chelated fertilizers and foliar fertilizers.