Pages

September 02, 2014

02/09/2014: Biological products help farmers to crop better crops

We use biological products in our everyday life -f or example enzymes use in washing powders to brewing - however new biological products are being made available to farmers to help their nurture their crops while they grow.

“They act on a plant,” said Margi Schmidt, spokeswoman at Novozyme, a division of Monsanto that focuses on biological agriculture.

“They cause a plant to take action, to increase sugar production, to increase yields. They can grow and multiply in the bag or in the soil. They are synergistic, so they will work together to cause a reaction,” she said.

Biologicals include rhizobia, penicillium bilaii, tricoderma and LCO technology; LCOs are molecules that enhance a plant’s nutritional profile, including better root and shoot development in soybeans.

“I consider it a cheap insurance policy,” said A.J. Booher, a farmer who has used biological products on soybeans. “Even if it only earns one-tenth of a bushel more, it’s worth it.”

Biological products can enhance crops by:
* Increasing the supply of nutrients to the crop;
* Stimulating crop stress mitigation;
* Generally improving crop health and productivity; and
* Controlling insects and disease.

Adoption of biological products has been slow in the past because results are not always visible and the product can be slow acting, Schmidt said.

Popularity for agricultural biologicals are on the rise, however. The projected market share of microbials is US$4.4 billion by 2021.
 

“This is not a new concept. Microbes have always been around,” Schmidt said. “It’s not a new product. It’s just really growing in the marketplace right now. It’s one more thing that will help us increase yields.”

To learn more about agricultural biologicals, visit www.novozymes.com.

Read more HERE.
 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine GFMT
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.


For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

No comments:

Post a Comment