LITHOVIT

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LITHOVIT An Innovative Fertilizer
B. A. Bilal Scientific advisor to ZEOVITA
GmbH profdrabilal_at_aol.com, prof.abdel.bilal_at_zeovit
a.de
Presented at the 3rd e-Conference on Agricultural
BioSciences (IeCAB 2010), held online from1st
-15th June 2010 at http//www.m.elewa.org/econfere
nceIeCAB.php
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LITHOVITWhat a remarkable name !

• LITHO (Greek) means stone
• VIT from vita (Latin) refers to life.
• LITHOVIT meaning alive stone?
• Stones (minerals) like Dolomite can be subjected
  to special treatment so that they are able to
  affect the functions of plants and improve them.
• Lithovit is a stone that helps the plants to
  grow and to thrive

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Effect of Lithovit on photosynthesis the most
important function in plant growth

• Photosynthesis as function of Carbon dioxide
  concentration
• Carbon dioxide is also some times increased in
  greenhouses.
• That is not possible outdoor, also due to climate
  problems.
• The only way to do it outdoor is to supply the
  plants with carbon dioxide from inside the leaves
  
• Or right at the leaves surface to diffuse
  instantaneously through the stomata.
• Again How to do it ? What are the main topics
  leading to this aim?!

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LITHOVITDiscovery and development process

• We looked for a substance containing high
  quantities of CO2 in bond form.
• Materials to be harmless to humans, animals
  environment.
• Material was converted in a technical process
  into a foliar fertilizer that releases CO2 at
  high concentration.
• The release must take place inside the leaves as
  well as directly on the leaf surface in order to
  diffuse instantaneously into he leaf.

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Lithovit how the 4 conditions are fulfilled.

• Use the mineral Dolomite which consists of
  Calcium or Magnesium carbonate.
• Dolomite was milled in Hitec-Nano-millsat 20,000
  rpm to extremely fine powder (LITHOVIT).
• Once sprayed as an aqueous suspension, particles
  penetrate through the stomata and into the leaf
  (inside cells).
• During the milling process the particles are
  highly activated by means of tribodynamic
  activation which enables the CO2 to release in
  the intercellular compartment (mechanism 1) as
  well as right at the leaf surface (mechanism 2)

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What is Tribodynamic Activation?

• Keep in mind that energy never cant be destroyed
  nor newly created.
• Energy can only be transformed from one form to
  another.
• Only a small part of the very high mechanical
  energy produced in the Hitec-Nano-Mills is
  converted to heat due to friction.
• Most of the energy is converted
  (tribodynamically) to activation energy of the
  particles due to the very high speed of their
  collision.
• The activation energy is manifested in breaking
  the chemical bond between crystal lattices,
  deformation of the lattice and polarization of
  the electric charge within the particles in such
  way that their negative charge is shifted to the
  surface, whereas the positive charge remains more
  or less at the centre.
• The polarization of particles charge is the most
  important form of their activation.

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Mechanism 1 within plant cells

• Lithovit particles penetrate into the
  intercellular compartment and dock with their
  negatively charged surface on the outside of the
  cell membrane and induce a negative potential
  which attracts the positive hydrogen ions formed
  in the first step of the photosynthesis through
  the membrane to outside. These dock on the
  carbonate groups of the Lithovit particles
  forming carbonic acid which decomposes to carbon
  dioxide and water.
• Not all Lithovit particles penetrate at once
  through the stomata.
• Most particles remain on the leaves surface and
  penetrate frequently when they get wet at night
  by dew.

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Mechanism 1 Within plant cells
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Mechanism 2 on leaf surface

• (Ca, Mg)CO3 H2O CO2 lt------gt (Ca,
  Mg)(HCO3)2
• At night Lithovit takes CO2 from the atmosphere
  as well as from plant respiration and H2O from
  dew as well as from plant respiration and is
  converted to hydrogen carbonate .
• During the day the temperature increases, the
  water evaporates out of the equilibrium which
  therefore shifts to the left hand side forming
  back Lithovit (carbonate form).
• This change sets CO2 at high concentration right
  at the leaf surface, which diffuses
  instantaneously through the stomata.
• Lithovit therefore acts as a long term reservoir
  supplying plants with CO2.
• The kinetic barrier of the reaction above is
  overcome by the tribodynamic activation of the
  Lithovit particles.
• Mechanism 2 is based on the thermodynamic
  equilibrium

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Benefits of LITHOVIT

• Increases yield and improves quality and storage
  properties of crop especially when plants are
  subject to stress.
• Reduces water requirement due to higher drought
  tolerance.
• Intensifies growth and green coloration.
• Enhances plant resistance against frost, insects
  and fungi.
• Enhances plant supply with essential micro
  nutrients.
• Recommended by European Community for organic
  farming according to EWG 2092/91.

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Lithovit in Post Harvest fruit conservation

• In the ripening process, the amino acid
  methionine is converted in two steps to the
  compound Amino Cyclopropane Carboxylic acid
  (ACC).
• ACC is oxidized by oxygen(O2) in the presence of
  ascorbic acid, under catalysis of Fe (II) ions
  and ACC-Oxydase enzyme (ACCO) to Ethylene, CO2
  and H2O.
• Ethylene acts as a ripening hormone that breaks
  down chlorophyll and photosynthetic activity and
  increases activity of the enzyme responsible for
  ripening so that starch and organic acids are
  converted to sugar.
• Lithovit is CO2 supplier which, according to
  thermodynamics, pushes the reaction against the
  ACC oxidation and Ethylene formation.

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Effect of Lithovit on plant resistance to drought
and frost

• The factors responsible for opening and closing
  the stomata are
• 1. The structure of the closing cells
  (surrounding the stomata pore). The walls around
  the pore are thick and inelastic, while those
  directed to the neighboring cells and covering
  the intercellular compartment are thin and
  elastic. On water transport inside the closing
  cells, the thin walls stretch and the cells swell
  to outside, the walls surrounding the pore become
  concave and the stomata opens. Vice versa, water
  transport out of the closing cells leads to
  their shrinking, tightening around the stomata
  pore to close it.
• 2. The osmotic pressure (and water activity) in
  the closing cells compared to that in
  neighboring cells and intercellular compartment.
  When it gets hot water evaporates from the
  intercellular compartment, the concentration of
  solved species increases producing higher osmotic
  pressure (decreasing water activity). Water moves
  out of the closing cells which shrink, and
  tighten around the pore to close it.

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Effect of Lithovit on plant resistance to drought
and frost (contd)

• After its conversion into CO2 and ionic species
  Lithovit increases the osmotic pressure in the
  intercellular compartment, so that water moves
  out of the closing cells and the stomata closes.
  Inspite of this photosynthesis is still going on
  due to CO2 supply from inside the leaves.
• The increased formation of the metabolic products
  in plant cells due to increasing photosynthesis
  leads thermodynamically to decreasing the
  freezing point of cell water and hence higher
  resistance of the plants to frost.

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Applications of Lithovit

• Lithovit is used normally as 0.5 aqueous
  suspension and is sprayed in 2 - 3 applications.
  Total quantity needed is only 1.5 kg / hectare.
• It has been successfully applied on different
  crops (information available on request) in
  Europe, middle East, Asia, USA, South America,
  and Africa in the following crops
• wheat, barley, rice, maize, oilseed rape, bean,
  sun flower, beet, potato, sweet potato, pome
  fruit (apple, pear), stone fruit (cherry, plum,
  peach, apricot), currants, strawberry, citrus,
  olive, banana, grapevine, soybean, cotton,
  peanut, hop, bulb vegetables (e.g. garlic, leek),
  root and stem vegetables (e.g. carrot,
  radish),leaf vegetables forming head (e.g.
  lettuce, endive), other brassica vegetables (e.g.
  cauliflower, broccoli), cucurbits (e.g. cucumber,
  melon, pumpkin, water melon), solanaceous
  fruits(e.g. tomato, Egg plant, paprika), pea,
  haricot bean and sugarcane.
• For more details see BBCH- recommended
  Lithovit applications on different crops, IeCAB
  2010, Bilal B.A.

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Challenges in mixed applications with
herbicides, insecticides, fungicides

• Lithovit can normally be mixed with herbicides,
  insecticides, fungicides or other fertilizers.
• In rare cases when it shows incompatibility, the
  pH of the mixed agent and of the final mixture
  is significant
• If the pH of the mixture is acidic (lt 5.5)
  Lithovit dissolves setting CO2 already free
  before use.
• If the pH is alkaline (gt 9.8 - 10), the Magnesium
  in the Lithovit precipitates as Mg(OH)2, a gel
  which closes the nozzles of the sprayer.
• Addition of too much soluble Mg-salts like MgSO4
  leads to excess solubility of Mg(OH)2 and hence
  to its precipitation. Such precipitation can be
  avoided on adding Ammonium Chloride or Ammonium
  Nitrate before mixing.
• If Agents containing Phosphate (such as
  Glyphosate) are to be mixed, the addition of
  Ammonium Chloride must be avoided.

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Results obtained using Lithovit
See separate presentation on selected results
obtained after applying Lithovit on different
crops Bilal B.A. IeCAB 2010