The SASEX fertiliser advisory service: a review of 50 years of service to the South African sugar industry.

This year, the Experiment Station’s Fertiliser Advisory Service (FAS) enters its 50th year of service to the industry. Since it was commissioned in 1954, FAS has achieved recognition as one of the leading agricultural laboratories, not only in South Africa, but also in other cane producing countries. The laboratory provides an efficient and reliable service to growers and research workers, giving cost effective, environmentally friendly fertiliser recommendations based on soil and leaf analysis. It also analyses organic manures and gives advice on water and effluent for irrigation, while keeping pace with advances in modern analytical techniques and instrumentation. This paper reviews the historical development of FAS since 1954, and highlights technical achievements in terms of the selection and calibration of appropriate soil and leaf testing methods for determining nutrient requirements, advances in the automation of laboratory instrumentation, and the development of soil-specific fertiliser recommendations, nutrient retrieval systems and computer aided decision support programs for more effective fertiliser management. The impact of new challenges from precision agriculture and the rapidly growing soil sustainability school on soil health evaluation and soil management are considered.