Industrial Crops
HIGH-TECH AGRICULTURE
The future of extensive agriculture
Industrial crops are a complex and broad group of cultivated plants that, unlike cereals, belong to very different botanical species and therefore have very different ecophysiological and management characteristics and very disparate uses, some of them non-food.
Industrial crops are those whose final product does not allow direct consumption or for which its processing is much more profitable.
Sugar beet, cotton, sugar cane, quinoa, tobacco, tea, or cassava are examples of industrial crops.
Depending on the type of crop, fertilization needs vary. For example, cotton requires high nitrogen demand distributed throughout the growth cycle, phosphorus in the initial and seed development phases, and potassium for the formation and development of the bolls.
On the other hand, sugar beet needs high levels of nitrogen and even higher levels of potassium. The supply of iron and magnesium must also be important.
And proper fertilization plays an important role in determining leaf quality parameters, such as color, texture, or sugar and alkaloid content. It is very sensitive to low temperatures and frost.
