Smart Agrochemicals for Sustainable Agriculture proposes products that fulfill the need for chemicals that provide a sustainable delivery system for nutrients necessary to maximize the production of agricultural animals and plants while producing the smallest possible environmental footprint. This book addresses all aspects related to the production process, including chemical formulas, stability of formulations, and the application of the effect of its utilization. Over the past decade, biobased chemicals have received significant attention as candidate resource materials in fertilizers and agrochemicals production due to their renewability. Substitution of conventional raw materials with biobased requires a new approach towards the development of technology. On the other hand, the use of biobased chemicals, such as biostimulants, bioregulators and biofertilizers offers a new palette of products that are natural, thus their application does not pose an impact on the environment (residues) or cultivated plants.

This book describes the results of the research of the project entitled Phosphorus Renewable Raw Materials: A Resource Base for the New Generation of Fertilizers' attributed to the National Center for Research and Development of Poland. This book is divided into three chapters that are assigned to different stages of the project undertaken by different R&D institutions. The concept and possible options of valorization of waste biomass, such as bones, fish bones, and ashes originated from the incineration of sludge from a waste-water treatment plant from the tertiary stage of biological treatment as resources of phosphorus were described by the team from Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. As a method of by-products valorization, the solubilization process was proposed. Two strategies were proposed: Ex-situ and in-situ. The in-situ manner resulted with suspension fertilizer with a low concentration of P2O5 while ex-situ gave the possibility to obtain two solid formulations with the high content of P2O5. All of them could be used in agriculture and horticulture as granular fertilizers or as substrates. The different content of P2O5, as well as other nutrients in obtained formulations, were described as an effect of utilization of different raw materials as well as various additional substances such as binders necessary for the stability of final formulations. What is more, the efficiency of obtained formulations was strongly related to the kind of microorganism used as an 'activator' of unavailable phosphorus, which was discussed in details. The technology of production for biofertilizers in pilot-scale was described by the Institute of New Chemical Synthesis in Pulawy with the following issues underlined: Design of installation to produce fertilizers based on renewable raw materials; plant construction and production of the product; and preliminary economic analysis. The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn described the utilitarian properties of new fertilizer formulations that were evaluated in field tests with special attention to granular and suspension biofertilizer. In that chapter, the major results of the agronomic evaluation of new suspension and granular phosphorus biofertilizers from secondary raw materials (sewage sludge ash, animal bones, and animal blood) were presented. Biofertilizers contained Bacillus megaterium or Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans bacteria. New bioproducts were tested in field experiments in reference to traditional commercial phosphorus fertilizers (superphosphate, phosphorite, etc.). The research confirmed that phosphorus biofertilizers from renewable raw materials were similar to commercial fertilizers in terms of their crop-enhancing efficiency and did not reduce yield quality and quantity.

In this book, the biosorption process used to produce biological components of fertilisers was examined. For this purpose, the waste biomass obtained from the supercritical fluid extraction of oils from multiple berries seeds was used. It was shown that post-extraction residues of black currant, raspberrys and strawberry seeds constitute a valuable material for agricultural purposes. Detailed characteristics of these materials were presented. Moreover, it was shown that berries seeds are characterised by good biosorption properties. It was possible to increase the content of microelements essential for plants by applying the biosorption process. The utilitarian properties of enriched materials were tested in field experiments. Bioavailability of microelements from enriched post-extraction residues of the berries seeds to plants was assessed and the biofortification of edible parts of plants with micronutrients from the new products was achieved.