CONTENTS
Please note, this "book" has been translated into English from its Russian form.  Any small grammatical flaws that occur are simply the result of this translation. 

1. Introduction

2. The Theory Behind Humates

3. The Effects of Humates on Crops

4. The Effects of Humates on the Quality of Produce

5. The Protective Effects of Humates

6. The Effects of Humates on Soil

7. The Use of Humates With Chemical Fertilizers

8. The Use of Humates With Organic Fertilizers

9. The Use of Humates in Poultry and Stock Farming

10. Conclusion

1.  INTRODUCTION

Dear Reader,

    This small book was first written in 1996 and has been published in Russia four times.  Even though humates have been used for over fifty years, the first industrial production of highly concentrated humate powders containing at least 70% active humic acids was established at the time of this book’s first publication, using the technology developed by its author.  This technology allowed the production of reasonably priced humates, so that they became affordable for everyone.  On the basis of this technology a whole series of new humic preparations was created. Apart from the Russian farmers and the large rural production associations (the former collective farms and State farms), the major buyers of humates are the millions of ordinary people who use them on their small plots of land, where they grow vegetables, fruit, and berries for their personal use.  The Russian people do not particularly believe in advertising, and they had to see for themselves the advantages of the humates’ use.  When convinced, they became my best advocates in advertising this wonderful product.  As a result, our yearly production more than tripled, and we began exporting our product to several countries, including the United States.

            There are many differences in the land cultivation and agriculture between these countries and Russia.  With the help of a close business partner in New Zealand, I was able to visit his wonderful country, as well as some of the agricultural regions of Australia and a few Oceania Islands.  During these visits, I met with many farmers, scientists, agriculturists, and businessmen.  I was able not only to share my knowledge with them but also to learn many new and interesting things.

            In 1999 the American distributor initiated a new project, which ultimately resulted in the formation of TeraVita LLC and the construction of its humate manufacturing facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Together with Australian and the American engineers we managed to create the new equipment needed to increase production capacity and considerably to improve the original Russian technology.  This business project and the opportunity to speak and meet with many respected businessman and scientists greatly enriched my previous experiences.  The result of it all is the book which I bring to your attention now.

A Little History

“The duty of scientist is that:  the Earth should be pure, and people should be full”
L. Khristeva

            About 50 years back at Kherson University a young Soviet scientist named Lydia Khristeva made an important discovery.  Using ordinary soil, she educed humic acids from the samples as a solution of sodium salts and then watered  plants with the solution.  The plants had increased growth and an increased root mass over the control plants.  Thus, the biological activity of soluble humates was discovered for the first time!

            All further scientific activity of Lydia Khristeva was devoted to this problem. She found a way of to extract humates from Ukrainian coal and together with pupils and employees she carried out thousands of experiments with the various kinds of plants.  Later, scientists from Byelorussia, Moscow, Uzbekistan and other regions of our country joined them.  In distant Siberia enormous stock piles of humic acids in coal deposits were discovered and scientists from Irkutsk, led by Professor Valentina Larina began active work in this area.  At this time I was just a student of the chemical faculty of Irkutsk University and my first scientific work was related to studying humic acids.  On time, similar research began in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy and the USA.  The results of applying humates in agriculture, animal industries, poultry farming, and also in some areas of engineering were gradually collected.  These results were widely discussed in scientific publications and at scientific conferences, but remained mostly unknown to the general public.  The main reason for this, in my opinion, was the absence of a reliable and effective technology for the production of soluble humates from their raw sources.  At that time humates were extracted from brown coals and peats by extraction with diluted solutions of alkalis.  This was, as it seemed, the most simple and reliable method, but it appeared extremely unprofitable in terms of large-scale industrial production because it produced only diluted solutions of humates with 5% to 7% humic acids.  Many years later I had an epiphany for a better and more efficient method of extracting humates from their raw materials.

            The first patent protecting this technical discovery was received in the early 1990’s.  In 1996 we created the first industrial production in Russia.  The humates created with this technology had a number of important qualitative differences from their predecessors and it resulted in the creation of essentially new preparations of humates with no analogues.  It was the beginning of humic preparations of a new generation.

            The major factor in the enhanced quality of these new preparations is the quality of the raw material itself.  The new production technology allows for greater conversion of humic acids into humates and also allows silica to transfer into its useful form - soluble salts of silicon acid.  Beyond that, part of the insoluble fraction of the organic substance, the humins, are able to be oxidized during the conversion and to transferred in humates.

Table 1.1.

The comparative characteristics of oxidized coals and the humates produced from them using our technology.

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