Soil Health
Developing and maintaining soil health and soil fertility is vital to your agricultural productivity. A key component of soil organic matter are populations of soil microbes. Living microbes in soil help supply plants with nutrients, and a diverse community of soil microbes provides protection against pest and disease outbreaks. Common agricultural practices can reduce microbes in soil and overall soil health, but there are ways of improving soil quality to prevent this from happening.
APPLICATIONS OF ACADIAN PLANT HEALTH™ AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS CAN IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH AND PROVIDE A MORE FERTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR PLANTS, LEADING TO INCREASED DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY. USE ACADIAN PLANT HEALTH™ CROP CARE SOLUTIONS TO:
- Improve soil fertility
- Increase the activity and diversity of beneficial soil microbes
- Improve soil moisture retention
SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN, FIELD-TESTED SOLUTIONS
STRAWBERRY FIELD TRIAL
Note: Microbial colony counts are expressed in millions of colony-forming units per gram of soil. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences between treatments. (LSD, p=.05)
In this two-year greenhouse and field study, the number of microbial colonies in the soil was increased significantly with regular applications of an Acadian Plant Health™ agricultural product. In this same study, applications of an Acadian Plant Health™ product increased total cultural bacteria populations by up to 23% and fungal populations by up to 8%.
Reference:
Alam, M. Z., Braun, G., Norrie, J., & Hodges, D. M. (2013) Effect of Ascophyllum extract application on plant growth, fruit yield and soil microbial communities of strawberry. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 93:23-36.
CARROT FIELD TRIAL
CARROT FIELD TRIAL
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Note: Relative abundance represents the number of a particular type of organisms as a percentage of the total number of organisms in a given area.
In this field trial on carrots, plots treated with an Acadian Plant Health™ agricultural product had much higher numbers of two types of mycorrhizae fungi, in proportion to other organisms. Mycorrhizae fungi colonize plant root systems and provide many crop benefits; they help increase root surface area which, in turn, helps plants uptake more water and nutrients from the soil.
As shown in the photograph, treated plots were more developed at the end of the growing season, and there was a 20% increase in the weight of whole plants at the time of harvest.
ALFALFA UNIVERSITY TRIAL
ALFALFA UNIVERSITY TRIAL ‘CARIBOU’
DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY, CANADA
Note: Different letters indicate statistically significant differences between treatments. (LSD, p=.05)
In this university trial, applications of an Acadian Plant Health™ product led to an increase in the colony count of a nitrogen fixing bacteria. Nitrogen fixing bacteria are important in legume plants such as alfalfa, soybean, etc. as they form nodules in root systems where they convert nitrogen into a format that the plant can use.