KENYA STANDARD        KS 2427 2018 
           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Soluble Compound fertilizer  — 
Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
        
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© KEBS 201 8        First Edition 20 18 
ii  © KEBS 201 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 — All rights reserved   
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE  REPRESENTATION  
 
The following organization s were represented on the Technical Committee:  
 
Government Chemist  
Mea Ltd.  
Chemagro Ltd  
Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS)  
Kenya Agricultural   and livestock research organization  
Yara East Africa Ltd  
Kenya Tea Development Agency  
University of Nairobi  
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and fisheries  
Amiran (K) Ltd  
Toyota Tshusho Fertilizers  
Elgon chemicals  
Osho chemicals  
OCP Kenya Ltd.  
Kel Chemicals  
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat  
 
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS  
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in i ndustry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed. Suggestions 
for improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, 
are welcome.  
 
 
 
 
 
© Kenya Bureau of standards, 201 8 
 
Copyright:  Users are reminded th at by virtue of Section 6 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 130 of the Laws of Kenya, copyright subsists in all 
Kenya Standards and except as provided under Section 7 of this Act, no Kenya Standard may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval 
system in any form or tr ansmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from the Managing Director.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 © KEBS 2012 — All rights reserved   iii  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KENYA STANDARD                            
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Soluble Compound fertilizer , — 
Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS ( KEBS)  
 
Head Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi -00200, Tel.: (+254 020) 605490, 602350, Fax: (+254 020) 604031  
E-Mail: info@kebs.org,  Web:http://www.kebs.org   
 
Coast Region     Lake Region          Rift Valley Region  
P.O. Box 99376, Mombasa -80100   P.O. Box 294 9, Kisumu -40100        P.O. Box 2138, Nakuru -20100  
Tel.: (+254 041) 229563, 230939/40                Tel.: (+254 057) 23549, 22396        Tel.: (+254 051) 210553, 210555   
iv  © KEBS 201 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 — All rights reserved  Fax: (+254 041) 229448    Fax: (+254 057) 21814  
 
 
Foreword  
 
This Kenya standard has been p repared by the technical committee on fertilizers and soil 
conditioners under the guidance of the standards projects committee in accordance with 
the procedures of the Kenya Bureau of standards.  
 
 
The rapid expansion of horticulture  and irrigated  farming  has resulted in development of 
new technologies that aim at maximising nutrient use efficiency and offer opportunities for 
quick responses to plants nut rients needs. This has led to a need to develop special 
fertilizers that can be applied using these new  technologies.  
 
Environmental aspects related to fertilizer raw mat erials have been taken care of, thus  
limits for heavy metals have been specified. Recent Association of official Analytical 
chemists (AOAC) methods of analysis have been adopted.  
 
 
 
During the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following documents:  
 
1. FAO mineral fertilizer specifications, 2012  
2. Indian specifications for fertilizers  
3  .EU cadmium limits in Fertilizers  
 
 
 
 
 
Acknowledgement is hereby made for assistance deri ved from this source.  
 
 
  
© KEBS 201 8— All rights reserved                                                                                                                  1 KENYA STANDARD   KS 2427  2018 
 
Soluble Compound fertilizer, — Specification  
 
 
1 Scope  
 
This Kenya Standard specifies the requirements, methods  of sampling and tests 
for soluble  compound  fertilizers,  
 
2 Requirements  
 
2.1 Descrip tion  
 
The fertilizer shall be homogenous and be in the form of granules, powder,  paste,  
pellets , prills or crystals.  
 
2.2 Physical  
The fertilizer product shall be fully soluble in water  
 
 
2.3 Chemical  
compound fertilizer shall contain two or more of the foll owing primary plant 
nutrient elements intended for fertilizing of crops: nitrogen (N), phosphorus 
(P) and potassium (K).  The lower limit of the declared value of any of the 
primary nutrients shall   comply with the tolerances stated in the table  1 
below  
 
Table 1  Tolerances for declared primary nutrients  
 
SL 
NO nutrient content  tolerances  in units  
i  less  than 15  0.5 
ii 15 to 21 0 .6 
iii  more than 21  0.7 
 
Besides the primary nutrient elements, the fertilizer may also contain one or more 
of the following elements: Boron, Calcium, Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, 
Manganese, Molybdenum, Sulphur and Zinc, which, when present f or the purpose 
of fertilizing of crops and mentioned in any form or manner, shall be guaranteed on 
the elemental basis.  Sources of the elements guaranteed and proof of availability 
shall be provided upon request.  The elements shall be mentioned and guara nteed if 
their percentage values by mass are equal to or more than the values shown in 
Table 2  
 
  
 
                            Table 2 — Minimum percentage for guarantee  
  
2  © KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved  SL 
NO Element  % 
i) Boron  ( B) 0.02 
ii) Calcium   
(Ca) 1.00 
iii) Cobalt  (Co)  0.0005  
iv) Copper   (Cu) 0.05 
v) Iron (Fe)  0.10 
vi) Magnesium (Mg)  0.60 
vii) Manganese (Mn)  0.50 
viii) Molybdenum 
(Mo) 0.0005  
ix) Sulphur  (S) 1.00 
x) Zinc (Zn)  0.05 
 
2.4 The moisture content shall   not be more than 0 .5 % m/m.  
 
2.5     pH Value  
   
 
The pH value of a 1 0 % (m/v) aqueous solution, of the fertilizer, sha ll   not be less 
than 4.5.  
 
2.6 Heavy metal contaminants   
 
The heavy metal contaminants, if present, shall not exceed the limits stipulated i n 
Table 3. 
 
 
 
Table 3 — Heavy metal contaminants limits  
 
SL NO  Parameter  Limits in 
ppm Test method  
i) Arsenic, As, max.  20.0 AOAC  
ii) Cadmium, Cd, max.  15.0 AOAC  
iii) Mercury, Hg, max.  0.1 AOAC  
iv) Selenium, Se, max.  1.0 AOAC  
v) Lead, Pb, max.  30.0 AOAC 
vi Chromium  500     AOAC  
 
 
3 Packaging and marking  /labelling  
 
3.1 Packaging   
 
i) The fertilizer shall be packaged in materials that  ensure the product integrity and 
quality and  protect  it   from physical, chemical and moisture contamination .  
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved   3 ii) The fill of the package shall comply with the weight and measures act CAP 513 of the laws 
of Kenya  
 
iii The disposal of used package and condemned fertilizer shall comply with EMCA 1999 no.8 
of the disposal of solids and liquid wastes  
 
 
 
3.2 Marking  /Labelling  
 
The following information shall be clearly and indelibly marked/labelled on each 
package.          
 
a) Name, address and physical location of manufacturer/packer/importer;  
b) name of the fertilizer, i.e.“ Soluble Compound Fertilizer   
c) guaranteed percentage by mass o f each of the primary plant nutrients 
(NPK);    
d) name and percentage by mass of any other guaranteed element  if present;  
e) date of manufacture,  
f) expiry date  
g)  batch/lot number;  
h) the form in which nutrient is present;  
i) the percentage of water -soluble phosphates;  
j)  handling instructions;  
k) the net weight of the fertilizer in the package;  
l) country of origin;  
m)  A cautionary statement on any micronutrient   toxicity.  
 
. 
 
4 Certificate of analysis  
 
Each consignment shall be accompanied by a certificate of analysis.  
 
5.               Sampling    
This shall be done ac cording to ISO standards ISO 8633  and 8634      
 
ISO 8633 -Solid fertilizers -- Simple sampling method for small lots  
ISO 8634 - Solid fertilizers -- Sampling plan for the evaluation of a large delivery  
 
 
 
   
4  © KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved