中国
Cucumber is one of the major vegetable crops in China, with a stable cultivation area exceeding 10 million mu (approx. 666,667 hectares), playing an important role in vegetable production and consumption. From north to south, cucumbers can be grown in both greenhouses and open fields. Surveys show that over-fertilization is common in cucumber cultivation. In addition, unbalanced nutrient ratios and inappropriate application methods often lead to fertilizer waste.
To address farmers’ fertilization habits and leverage the characteristics of ENTEC® compound fertilizers, field trials were conducted in typical cucumber-growing areas to explore ENTEC®’s potential in reducing fertilizer use and increasing yield.
Table 1: Fertilization Scheme Comparison
Notes:
❶ Self-made organic fertilizer (sheep manure + oilseed cake compost), 500 kg/mu, approx. RMB 800, incorporated into the soil before transplanting.
❷ From first flowering onwards, water-soluble fertilizer (15-5-30) applied every 5 days via drip irrigation, 5 kg/mu per application.
❸ According to literature, producing 1 ton of cucumbers requires ~3 kg N, 1.5 kg P₂O₅, and 4 kg K₂O. With a target yield of 10 tons/mu, the nutrients in Table 1 are sufficient.
Cucumbers were harvested every 3–5 days depending on temperature conditions. Yield data was recorded from October 18 to December 20, 2023.
Table 2: Yield and Market Price by Harvest Period
Using local market prices:
ENTEC®-treated cucumbers generated additional income per mu of:
During the same period, cucumber income increased by RMB 1,443.5/mu with ENTEC®.
Compared to traditional practice, the ENTEC® plan:
This further confirms ENTEC®’s effectiveness in saving fertilizer and boosting yield.
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