Plant Health Insights

By Maud Hinchee, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Agricen Sciences 

Once a newly germinated seedling secures a foothold with its root, it uses the power of its photosynthetic engines to drive growth. Sunlight is the fuel source, enabling the plant to produce the proteins, lipids and carbohydrates it needs to make new leaves and roots.

But to create these internal building blocks, the seedling must also mine and extract raw materials from the soil, sometimes at great distance, and "sluice” them back through its root system to the growing shoot. So how does a root prospect for the raw materials like water, macronutrients, and micronutrients that the plant needs?

An unreplicated strip trial was conducted in a commercial tomato crop in Bowen, Queensland in 2017 to evaluate Foundation LM for the production of field-grown tomatoes. This third-party evaluation found a significant increase in brix levels, an important indicator of fruit quality, when Foundation LM was added to the grower's standard program (GSP) for the production of fresh market tomatoes.

An external trial conducted in an orchard of nonpareil almonds in Angle Vale, South Australia revealed an increase in nut weight, length and yield with a program that included Foundation LM, Awaken, LoKomotive and NutriSync D. Results were consistent with earlier data collected from a third-party almond trial in New South Wales. The data indicates that this program in almonds may carry over wide climatic zones, as well as a variety of soil and water types.

This demonstration shows how using Basis XC can accelerate and enhance wheat germination by improving nutrient release from granular fertiliser.

Seventeen Basis XC-treated fertiliser granules were mixed into the soil in the tray on the right, while untreated fertiliser granules were used in the tray on the left. As you can see, wheat germination is significantly advanced in the tray where Basis XC-treated fertiliser was applied.

By Maud Hinchee, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Agricen Sciences

For a germinating seed to survive and thrive, its root system needs to create a strong foothold and provide access to available nutrients and water. How does it do this?  

It turns out that a new root is constantly making choices about where and when to grow based on the environment it encounters. Guided by its “root brain,” it makes decisions that maximise its access to water and nutrients as quickly as possible.  

Australian cotton has a reputation for high quality and high productivity, boasting yields that are more than three times the world average. The Loveland Agri Products’ range can help cotton growers maintain their leading edge and maximise their return on investment by setting the stage for a high performing crop early in the growing season.

The Superior Cotton Planting guide focuses on three key Loveland products that can be used to enhance the growth and performance of both irrigated and dryland cotton:

• Foundation™ LM - A biochemical catalyst for liquid fertilisers that increases nutrient availability and improves nutrient use efficiency. Foundation LM is an easy-to-use, cost-effective and safe method of making phosphorus more available to the plant at emergence and at early seedling stage. It helps to increase phosphorus efficiency by converting organic phosphorus into the plant-available, inorganic form.
• Radiate^® - An APVMA-registered foliar plant growth regulator technology. Radiate contains balanced amounts of indolebutyric acid (IBA) and other nutritional ingredients designed to promote root and shoot growth, improving
  overall plant vigour.
• LoKomotive^® - A liquid potassium acetate formulation specifically designed to provide maximum potassium uptake with minimal potential for phytotoxicity.

During "Early Season Technologies to Increase Cotton Production," you will hear about two technologies—Foundation LM and Radiate—that can improve cotton production by providing benefits such as increased nutrient availability, enhanced root growth and improved stress tolerance.

During the webinar, you'll see: 

• What Foundation LM and Radiate are
• How these products can maximise yield potential in an agronomic program on cotton
• Recent trial results in cotton

For a high-performing cotton crop, growers need to set the stage for success early in the growing season. In this short video, you'll hear from a cotton agronomist how early season applications of Foundation LM and Radiate can support plant health and maximise cotton yield potential by providing benefits such as enhanced rooting, improved nutrient uptake and increased resistance to plant stress. 

An irrigated cotton trial harvested in 2017 in Wee Waa, New South Wales demonstrates the ability of Foundation LM to help cotton crops achieve higher yields when this biocatalyst is added to a grower's standard fertiliser practice (GSP).

We are happy to announce that Bill Adams has joined Agricen Australia as senior sales manager based in Moree, New South Wales. 

Bill has more than two decades of experience in agronomy, crop protection and plant nutrition. He previously worked at Yara International for six years, most recently as commercial manager for liquids. Bill has also held positions at Ausgrains, Bywanna Farming, Syngenta, and McGregor Gourlay Agriculture Services. At Syngenta, he held leadership roles that included a specialized focus on cotton production in Australia.