Orchard Management in Sustainable Fruit Production

Zeolites have been increasingly used in various application areas such as industry, agriculture, environmental protection, and even medicine. Although, there are no certain figures on the total amount of these minerals the world, some countries e.g. Cuba, USA, Russia, Japan, Italy, South Africa, Hungary and Bulgaria, have important reserves and production potentials. According to reports of 2001, the total consumption of zeolites was 3.5 million tons of which 18% came from their natural resources and the rest from synthetics. More than forty naturally occurring zeolites were reported by different research groups, and clinoptilolite, erionite, chabazite, heulandite, mordenite, stilbit and philipsite are the most well-known. The most common for agricultural applications is clinoptilolite since it has high absorption, cation exchange, catalysis and dehydration capacities. Zeolites are, therefore, used as a promoter for better plant growth by improving the value of fertilizers; retaining valuable nitrogen and improving the quality of resulting manures and sludge. They can also be used as a molecular sieve or filter medium.