Growing vegetables in the Mediterranean comes with a challenge: high-pH soils. In these soil conditions, phosphates are prone to soil fixation, essentially locking away nutrients and making them inaccessible to the plant. However, finding the right solution can make all the difference.
Meet Andreas Hadjianastasis, a professional grower based in Famagusta, Cyprus, featured in this edition of ‘The Voice of Growers’. Andreas shares how IPE® Technology Biostimulants have strengthened crop root systems, improved Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE), and brought better results across all his vegetable crops.
The Challenge of Growing on High-pH Soils
Andreas grows a wide range of crops including cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons, melons, eggplants, and peppers. In Paralimni, the soils in Andreas’s region carry a very high pH. In practice, this means that essential nutrients, like Phosphorus, and Micronutrients get fixated in the soil before plants can take them up. Finding a solution that could make those nutrients available was very important for him.
IPE® Technology: The Answer to Alkaline Soil Challenge
Andreas found what he was looking for in Iperen IPE® Technology by Van Iperen International. As he describes it:
“Our soils here have a very high pH and with fertilization using IPE® Technology, we manage to release Phosphorus and Calcium. And we achieve better results.”
IPE® Technology works through a dual action: it releases nutrients already fixed in the soil while preventing freshly applied nutrients from being locked up again. This ensures crops have access to Phosphorus and micronutrients throughout the growing season.
Through his collaboration with LG Agricultural Products LTD, Van Iperen International’s reliable distributor in Cyprus, Andreas incorporated two Van Iperen products into his daily routine: Iperen IPE® 11-40-11 to strengthen root systems at crop establishment, and Iperen IPE® 20-13-20 to boost general plant performance.
Since using Van Iperen products, Andreas has noticed clear improvements in two areas that matter most for his crops:
Phosphorus & Micronutrient release in high-pH soils
In alkaline soils —common inAndreas’s region —Phosphorus availability is one of the biggest limiting factors for crop performance. IPE® Technology iostimulants directly address this by releasing fixed Phosphorus and other micronutrients, making them available for plant. By improving Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE), our IPE® Technology allows Andreas to unlock nutrients that were previously trapped in his soil, delivering them directly to his plants.
Enhanced root system development
Root development is where Andreas’s program begins. With IPE® 11-40-11 applied at crop establishment, he focuses on what he calls the most important step: strengthening the plant’s root system. Stronger roots mean better access to water and nutrients across the soil profile, giving crops a foundation they can rely on for the rest of the growing cycle.
IPE® Technology is CE Biostimulant Certified
The confidence growers like Andreas place in IPE® Technology is now backed by an important regulatory milestone. Van Iperen International’s full IPE® Technology range received the official CE Biostimulant certification under the EU Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) 2019/1009. Verified by EFCI, this certification is the result of over a decade of research and field trials across multiple countries, climates, and crop groups.
Looking Ahead with Confidence
Andreas’s experience shows what happens when the right solutions combats a challenging soil conditions. Across six different crops, in soils that used to hold back his results, IPE® Technology has become something he relies on every day.
At Van Iperen International, we are proud to stand behind growers like Andreas, together with our reliable distributor LG Agricultural Products LTD in Cyprus, as they work toward more consistent and productive harvests in their region.
Stay tuned for more stories from The Voice of Growers!