Soil health
What healthy soil looks like, why soil health decides yield and cost, and practical steps farmers can take to bring soil back to life.
Read the full guideHome / Knowledge
Agriculture knowledge
Plain answers on soil, crops and sustainable farming, from nearly 20 years in the field.
Soil and sustainability
Soil fertility
What soil fertility means, the nutrients crops need, how organic carbon and pH affect them, and how to read a soil test.
Read the full guideSustainable farming and the 5 Rs
How the 5 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, restore, restrict) help farmers grow profitably while protecting soil, water and the next generation.
Read the full guidePotato fertilizer schedule
A stage-by-stage potato fertilizer schedule: what to apply before planting, at earthing up, at tuber initiation and during bulking, and when to stop irrigation.
Read the full guideTools and schedules
Fertilizer dose calculator
Turn your soil test N, P and K into bags of urea, DAP or SSP and MOP.
Open calculatorPotato fertilizer schedule
What to apply at each stage of the potato crop.
Read the full guideCrop problems
Apple root rot: causes, signs and what to do
Why apple trees get root and collar rot, how to recognise it early, and the orchard practices that lower the risk. For growers in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Read the full guideMango flower and fruit drop: why it happens
Why mango trees drop flowers and young fruit, which drop is natural, and the care that reduces heavy losses.
Read the full guideMango alternate bearing: why trees fruit every other year
Why mango trees give a heavy crop one year and a poor crop the next, and the orchard care that evens out bearing.
Read the full guideSugarcane poor germination and gaps
Why sugarcane setts fail to germinate, why young plants die, and what growers can do at planting to get an even stand.
Read the full guideWhy potatoes are small, or too few
Why potato plants set few tubers or produce small, uneven tubers, and the stages when growers can prevent it.
Read the full guideCitrus dieback: why branches dry from the tip
Why lemon, lime and orange branches dry from the tip back, the common causes, and how growers can save declining trees.
Read the full guideFarming guides
What are biostimulants? A plain guide for farmers
What biostimulants are, how they differ from fertilizers and pesticides, the main types, and how farmers use them.
Read the full guideWhy yields fall on old land, and how to rebuild the soil
Why the same land gives less every year even with more fertilizer, what tired soil looks like, and practical steps to rebuild soil health.
Read the full guideCompost and humic acid: why they work better together
How compost and humic acid each improve soil, why using them together helps, and how to make good compost on the farm.
Read the full guideHow to take a soil sample for testing
A step-by-step guide to taking a soil sample that gives an accurate soil test, and what to ask the lab to test.
Read the full guide