The decline of British industry and more stringent pollution control regulations mean that less sulphur than ever is being deposited from the sky onto UK farms. Rachael Porter has been finding out the effects of a soil sulphur shortage and how it canbe overcome. Sulphur is a vital crop nutrient, but despite falling atmospheric deposition - which has been the main source for decades - it is still not included in most grassland fertiliser plans "Sulphur deficiency is becoming more widespread and the problem is set to worsen," says Hydro's agronomic development manager, Dr Geoff Paulson. He explains that in the 1960s, most of the sulphur required by crops came from the air, but sulphur deposition is just a third of what it was 20 years ago. Emissionsare set to fall further from 3.25m t/year to 2m t/year as UK industry begins to comply with environmental legislation regarding the discharge of sulphur dioxide.
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