ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Crop Biology and Sustainability
A biological additive in granulated mineral compound fertilizer improves productivity of spring wheat and sugar beet
Provisionally accepted
Rasa Šlinkšienė1*
Marijus Grodickas2- 1Department of Computer Sciences, Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania
- 2UAB Fertis, Kaunas, Lithuania
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The use of biological additives often enhances plant fertilization efficiency and reduces the environmental impact of fertilizers; however, their effectiveness varies depending on the context. It is particularly important that such additives are compatible with mineral fertilizers and remain viable and effective during industrial production. The aim of this study was to develop bulk NPK compound fertilizers supplemented with the biological additive Fosfix, a commercial product from the Lithuanian company Bioenergy LT. This product contains bacteria that help absorb phosphorus from insoluble soil compounds. The study also aimed to evaluate their agronomic effectiveness under field conditions. The fertilizer formulations incorporating the biological additive were developed at Kaunas University of Technology, with the goal of adapting the additive for industrial fertilizer production. Laboratory tests demonstrated that optimal fertilizer characteristics – commercial fraction content of 64–78%, granule strength of 28–41 N/granule, and moisture content of 15–16.5% – were achieved using a raw material mixture containing up to 60% recycled product. These laboratory conditions were successfully applied at pilot scale in industry, and a pilot batch of the developed product was produced in a fertilizer manufacturing company. Agrochemical tests were conducted at the Rumokai Experimental Station, a branch of the Lithuanian Agricultural and Forestry Research Centre. Field tests showed that the biological additive improved the performance of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) variety Severa KWS compared to spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety Triso: initial germination increased by 6%, root yield by 5.78 t·ha-1, and basic sugar yield by 5.16 t·ha-1. In conclusion, the newly developed fertilizer formulations promote plant physiological processes, support the expression of genetic potential, and ensure minimal nutrient loss.
Keywords: Bio-fertilizers, microorganisms, granulation technology, Soil, agricultural efficiency, Bacillus sp.
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 14 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Šlinkšienė and Grodickas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Rasa Šlinkšienė, rasasli@ktu.lt
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