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Release follows moisture: dew and humidity on the leaf, soil water in the root zone. Nutrients are given back gradually as the crop grows, not in one flush.
S4 Technology® is Arihant Group’s slow-release polymer matrix technology for liquid fertilizers. It binds nitrogen, phosphate, potassium and micronutrients into a stable liquid gel and gives them back to the crop gradually instead of all at once, whether it is sprayed on the leaf or applied to the soil.
Every fertilizer faces the same problem: once applied, a large share of it never reaches the crop. In the soil, nitrogen is washed down past the roots or lost to the air, phosphate is locked up by calcium, iron and aluminium, and micronutrients are fixed into forms the plant cannot use.
Studies published by ICAR estimate that crops in India recover only about 30–50% of the nitrogen applied, 15–20% of the phosphorus, 50–80% of the potassium and less than 5% of the micronutrients. The rest is lost: money for the farmer and a burden on soil and water.
Foliar sprays have a problem of their own. A leaf takes in nutrients mainly while the spray on it is still wet. In sun and wind a droplet dries within hours, and what is left sits on the leaf as a dry residue the leaf can barely use. Part of the spray also bounces or runs off during spraying, or is washed off later.
S4 Technology® was developed to hold nutrients where the crop can reach them, on the leaf and in the root zone, and release them over time, so more of every litre does its job.
Each S describes what the S4 polymer matrix does:
Release follows moisture: dew and humidity on the leaf, soil water in the root zone. Nutrients are given back gradually as the crop grows, not in one flush.
Nutrients locked in the polymer matrix are released a little at a time over the days after application.
Nutrients held in the matrix are less exposed to run-off, leaching and fixation, so less is lost to soil and water.
One stable liquid gel carries nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, secondary and micronutrients together.
To the eye, an S4 product is a smooth liquid gel. At the molecular level it is a structured network with four parts:
long chains of a specialty polymer, each carrying many binding sites along its length.
Places where chains are locked together, turning loose chains into a stable three-dimensional matrix.
Points along the chains that attract and hold positively charged nutrients such as potassium and micronutrients.
The spaces between the chains, where phosphate and other nutrients are held within the gel.
Together these give S4 its two defining properties: nutrients stay firmly held in the product, and they are let go gradually once they are on the leaf or in the soil.
Every S4 product is built through a controlled, stage-wise process developed and run entirely in-house:
We start with a specialty polymer that has many binding sites and a strong capacity to hold water and nutrients.
The polymer chains are locked together into a stable three-dimensional matrix, the backbone of every S4 product.
Phosphate, nitrogen, potassium, secondary and micronutrients are introduced under controlled conditions. Positively charged nutrients attach to the binding sites; the others are held evenly within the network.
The loaded matrix is brought to a smooth, uniform liquid gel in which every nutrient stays in place.
Every batch is tested for nutrient content, pH, specific gravity and flow before it is packed.
Most S4 products are applied as foliar sprays. On the leaf, the matrix does its work right on the surface where the spray lands.
The gel droplets wet the leaf and spread into a thin, even layer instead of standing as separate beads on the waxy surface.
As the water evaporates, the S4 matrix stays behind as a thin film. Positively charged nutrients such as potassium, ammonium, zinc and magnesium stay held at the binding sites, and phosphate and nitrate stay in the water-filled pores, instead of drying into loose salt crystals.
The matrix draws water back in from dew at night and from humid air in the early morning, so the film softens again.
Each time the film is moist, nutrients are released into the water on the leaf and move into it through the fine water-filled pathways in the cuticle and through the stomata.
A conventional foliar spray is taken in mainly during the first few hours, while it is still wet. Once it dries, uptake largely stops. The S4 film is re-wetted by dew and humidity, so the leaf can take in nutrients again on the following days.
| What Happens | Conventional Spray | With Biopolymer Technology™ |
|---|---|---|
| On the leaf | Separate droplets that can bead up on the wax and run off | Spreads into a thin, even gel film |
| After drying | Nutrients left as dry salt crystals | Nutrients held at binding sites in the film |
| Feeding window | A few hours, while the spray is wet | Returns whenever dew or humidity re-wets the film |
| Nutrient supply | One short burst | Gradual, over several days |
Spray in the early morning or late afternoon, when it is cooler and leaves stay moist longer. Avoid strong midday sun, and avoid spraying when rain is expected soon.
Cover both sides of the leaves evenly, using the dose and water volume given on the product label.
Before mixing with other products in the tank, test a small quantity in a jar first.
When S4 products are applied to the soil, the gel settles into the root zone and releases its nutrients from there.
Soil water moves into the matrix through its pores.
Bound nutrients are exchanged with the soil solution and diffuse out through the network, a little at a time.
Nutrients arrive close to the roots in small, steady amounts the crop can use.
Nutrients not yet released stay protected in the matrix, less exposed to leaching and fixation.
| What Happens | Conventional liquid fertilizer | S4 Technology® |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrient delivery | All at once | Gradual, over time |
| Exposure to leaching and fixation | High | Lower |
| Supply to the crop | Quick peak, then a gap | Steady |
| Physical form | Liquid that may settle | Stable liquid gel, no settling |
On the leaf and in the soil, nutrients are held in the matrix and given back gradually.
The gel spreads into a thin film that holds nutrients on the leaf surface.
The gel keeps every nutrient evenly suspended, with no phase separation.
If the gel thickens in storage, a simple shake returns it to a pourable liquid.
The locked matrix keeps the product uniform from the first litre to the last.
N, P, K, secondary and micronutrients carried together.
Longer feeding from each foliar spray, with nutrients taken in over several days.Steadier feeding through the season, without hunger gaps between applications.More of every litre reaches the crop, for better value from fertilizer spend.One stable liquid that is simple to store, measure and apply, as a spray or to the soil.Less spray lost as run-off from the leaves.Less nitrogen and phosphate washed into groundwater, canals and ponds.Less excess fertilizer building up in the soil.More result from less applied nutrient.
S4 Technology® is the platform behind Arihant’s liquid NPK fertilizer range, for foliar spray and soil application: one matrix, many nutrient combinations. Look for the S4 Technology® mark on the pack.
S4 Technology® — nutrients locked in a polymer matrix, released slowly to the crop.
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ANBR ELIXIR PVT LTD
PLOT NO. 5144, NEAR PRIME INDUSTRIES, SEVEN WATER TANK ROAD,
NEAR PARAS CHOWKDI, G.I.D.C. INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
ANKLESHWAR – 393 002.
DIST. BHARUCH, GUJARAT
ANBR ELIXIR PRIVATE LIMITED
Plot No. 10008-3, Near BEIL,
GIDC, Ankleshwar,
Dist :-Bharuch, 393002, Gujarat
