“I have been a customer of Karner Düngerproduktion GmbH for over 20 years and so am one of the first and oldest users of their fertilising strategy in Brandenburg. During this time, the product range has constantly developed and has helped us to secure our yields and keep our soils healthy when dealing with many fertilising and plant protection issues. In the Oderbruch region in particular you have to be careful with the soil due to its high clay content. On our 350-hectare farm, we were able to reduce our use of fungicides and insecticides by around 75% by using AKRA fertiliser.

In particular, we were able to significantly reduce our use of mineral nitrogen. By using AKRA N-bacteria, which I have been using for many years to “inoculate” my seeds, we have been able to significantly improve our nitrogen balance. Only around 100 kg N/ha (e-wheat 130 kg N/ha) in the form of mineral fertiliser was applied to all our crops. This nitrogen, which we generate through bacteria, has no impact on our nitrogen balance and is available to the crops immediately after sowing and regardless of any technical problems, like the drivability of the ground or rainfall that may dissolve the fertilisers, for example. As such, despite the low levels of rainfall this year (320 mm since January 2021), we were able to achieve the following yields: 

• 62 dt e-wheat (after sugar beet)
• 85 dt barley
• 70 dt rye

Overall, I really like the AKRA fertilising system and will continue to rely on it in the future, not least in view of the massively higher prices for mineral fertiliser.”