Fertilizer is the key for farmers to cultivate their land. Today, there are many varieties of Chemical (Inorganic) Fertilizer on the market and it is difficult to distinguish whether they are genuine or fake. Fake Chemical (Inorganic) Fertilizers are very detrimental to agriculture industry. It will not only directly cause farmers to suffer economical losses, but also causes crops to miss the best time to fertilize and lead to a decline in yield. The losses caused are far exceed the fertilizer itself. Therefore, farmers must learn some methods to distinguish the authenticity of fertilizers when buying Chemical (Inorganic) Fertilizers. Here are some common methods for authenticating fertilizers.

1. Simple and Quick Method to Distinguish Genuine and Fake Urea

Prepare a cup of warm water, grab some urea and put it into the water. Urea will quickly dissolve to water and water will remain clear after dissolution. Thus, the water temperature will drop rapidly and these indicate the quality of the urea is qualified. If the water temperature drops slowly means nitrogen content is low and the quality of urea is not qualified. If temperature of water does not drop indicates that the urea is not genuine.

2. Identify Diammonium Phosphate

• Genuine Diammonium Phosphate is very hard and not easy to be crushed, while Fake Diammonium phosphate is easy to be crushed.

• Grab some Fertilizer and hold it firmly by hand. If we can feel slightly wet and oily indicates the Diammonium Phosphate is qualified. If we feel the Fertilizer is very dry, most probably it is Counterfeit Fertilizer with inferior compound.

• Pour some Fertilizer particles into a container and dissolve with water and add a small amount of Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate). If the mixture has bubbles after a few seconds means it is qualified product. In contrast, if it bubbles immediately means it does not contain Diammonium Phosphate.

3. Checking Slow-Release Fertilizer

The purpose of Slow-Release Fertilizer is to control the release rate of nutrient. Therefore, the fertilizer is wrapped with a shield to slow down the release rate.

• Pour some Slow-Release Fertilizer in a glass full of water and stir gently for a few minutes. The Fertilizer will not dissolve, and the water will remain clear, free of impurities, and small bubbles will emerge around the particles.

• Peel off the shell of Slow-Release Fertilizer and put in water, it will slowly dissolve. If it remains not dissolving with water means it is inferior product or fake.

• The outer shell of genuine Slow-Release Fertilizer does not decolorize in water. If the Slow-Release Fertilizer decolorized in water, and the water become turbid and colored, it indicates that it is counterfeit product.

SOURCE: Detik

To minimizes the chance of wrongly bought fake Fertilizer, we must always buy Fertilizer from Authorized Seller because they receive the products from official distributors appointed by Fertilizer Manufacturers. Check the Packaging of Fertilizer, there will be information such as Description of Registered Brand, Circulation Period, Manufacturer’s Address, Bag Code, and SNI Logo with weight Information. On the original Packaging, all the characteristics are printed neatly. For counterfeited Fertilizer, always have some parts which are not printed neatly and the screen printing will not be as good as the original product.

Fertilizer Manufacturer should adapt Anti-Counterfeiting Techniques on the packaging. To allow consumers to check authenticity easier and also to trace check the distribution trail of the products. Nutrack provides Anti-Counterfeiting Solutions including Physical & Digital Anti-Counterfeiting Solutions. With a combination of both Physical & Digital Anti-Counterfeiting Techniques, it not only brings convenience for consumers to check authenticity, but also ensures that the codes are not duplicable. Contact us today for free consultation.