How to Distinguish Genuine Fertilizer From the Shoddy
It is the peak season for fertilizer marketing and use in spring. But in recent years, some counterfeit fertilizers appeared in market and got many farmers deceived, which has not only caused direct economic loss but also delayed farming season and affected agricultural production. Therefore, we have some easy ways for identification in accordance with the features of shoddy products in the market as follows:
- From package
For the qualified fertilizer produced by regular factories, you can see the given product name, nutrient and its content, net weight, place of origin, etc. on the package bag; however, the counterfeit’s package is rough with high damage rate. The logo is unclear or script slur.
- From price
As the saying goes, you buy what you pay for. The price of shoddy fertilizer is obviously lower than the qualified of the same kind in market.
- From variety
Main counterfeits include compound fertilizer (such as DAP), urea, superphosphate, liquid fertilizer and leaf fertilizer. You can’t be too careful of these kinds when purchasing. Rare bastardly ammonium bicarbonate can be found in market.
- From appearance
Different fertilizers differ in external properties, for example, ammonium bicarbonate is white with strong ammonia smell; urea, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and ammonium chloride are whit granular crystal; superphosphate is white powder with pungent sour smell; TSP is big and uniform cinerous granule without smell; calcium magnesium phosphate is grey powder without smell; potassium sulphate is white powdery crystal without smell; DAP is yellowish grey or iron inhomogeneous grey granule, which is volatile in humid environment with ammonia smell.
If the fertilizer you want to buy does not conform with these features, it is predicable that it is shoddy.
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