Stress is one of the major limitations to crop growing worldwide. As crop growers and crop input consultants, knowing how to manage crop stress by utilising macro/micro nutrients and plant growth hormones (PGH) is important. The right combination of Macro/micro nutrients & PGH’s can be used to help the crop develop tolerance to prevailing stress conditions. This will further help to alleviate the adverse effect of stress on the crops.
There is no de facto way of managing crop stress. Depending on the type of stress, the crop, crop stage (timing) and other biotic and abiotic factors, a combination of remedial approaches might be necessary to trigger certain responds by the crop to overcome stress. These include but are not limited to the following mechanism:
- Improved root growth to increase the uptake of water which helps in stomata regulation.
- Maintaining high tissue water potential.
- Improved stress tolerance by osmotic adjustment.
- Activating the physiological, biochemical and metabolic processes in the Crop.
Reactive oxygen species and crop stress.
Crops respond to stress i.e drought, water-logging, frost damage, hail damage pest winter cropping conditions etc. in a similar fashion by increased generation of reactive oxygen species aka (ROS). This increase is as a result of the accumulation of energy in stressed crop. The accumulation of energy increases photo-oxidation and damages the chloroplast membrane. Most of the activities initiated by the increase in ROS during stressful conditions are toxic and hence detrimental to the crops.
Foliar application of the right crop health nutrients, at the right timing and concentration will help the crop trigger activities that will increase the concentration of antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) in the plant cells. These antioxidants will help decrease the ROS levels, reduce the photo-oxidation and help maintain the integrity of chloroplast membrane. These activities will then lead to an increase in the photosynthetic rate in the crop thus, making the crop more stress tolerant.
N:B. Nothing replaces water by rainfall or irrigation. Our protocols are only meant to give the crops tolerance to water unavailability.
Nutrient absorption is the plants’ ability to “uptake” nutrients in the soil and use it for growing plant tissue. In this blog post we examine the plants’ nutrient absorption and ask the question – what if we can use science to improve nutrient absorption.
What is nutrient absorption?
Nutrient absorption is the plants’ ability to move nutrients from the soil into its roots and xylem for distribution to the plant shoots. Xylem is one of two types of tissues that transport nutrients and water to the rest of the plant. Phloem is the other type of tissue. Just like humans have a circulatory system that distributes nutrients and oxygen to the body, plants use xylem and phloem as their distribution system.
In plants, this process happens via a chemical and microbial interactions (silicon transport system)where a carrier from the plant binds with a nutrient ion in the soil and carries it up the membrane of the plant. The effectiveness of the plant roots in absorbing nutrients from soil depends on many factors including;
- genetic make-up of the plant itself
- the type of soil and soil characteristics
- weather
- human crop management practices
There are other factors not listed here, but the main point to remember here is that many of these factors can be controlled. Using scientific research and technological advancement we can alter the genetic make-up of the plant, which is likely to be the costliest option, or apply crop management practices that have a positive effect on soil characteristics which increases absorption by the plant.
Another method that plants absorb nutrients is through their leaves. Foliar feeding for example is a method of applying fertilizer to plant by spraying the leaves with liquid fertilizer. Plants are able to absorb, through the stomata, essential elements such as zinc and iron. Foliar feeding was proven to be effective in the early 1950s and has continued ever since.
Not only can growers understand the best method of application, but based on scientific testing and knowledge of plant physiology and function we can determine the best time to apply fertilizer. For example, foliar application is recommended when it is cooler (below 24oC) since heat can cause plants to close their leaves’ pores to preserve moisture and applying the fertilizer when it’s cool, will result in maximum uptake.
If you want to know more about how science and technological advancement can help enhance crop yields, contact us – we’d love to chat! If you liked this post, please share it.
Building Bushels with any crop starts with prompt seed germination, establishment of vigorous roots systems and uniform crop emergence. If one or all of the above are hindered by any sort of crop stress (drought, frost or pest), the crop would be off to a poor start and thus unable to maximise its yield potential.
There are a number of plant growth hormones (PGH) that are active at different crop growth stages. These include but are not limited to the following: Auxins, Cytokinins, Giberellic acid, Ethylene and Abscisic acid. These hormones help the plant initiate various growth activities such as root developments (ratio dependent), shoot development (ratio dependent), cell sizing, fruit development/ripening and maturity respectively.
As a crop develops, there should be a balance of the right plant growth hormone (PGH) and Macro/Micro nutrients at strategic crop growth stages. These Macro/Micro nutrients serve as ‘helpers’ (co-factors) that enables the plant hormones carry out their specific function(s). Some of these co-factors have also been linked to providing energy to the crop at different crop growth stages. When the crop goes into maturity the level of abscisic acid (ABS) increases. This means that levels of ABS will also be high in the harvested seed.
Since harvested seed have high levels of ABS, at seeding, the seeds are in the state of dormancy due to high ABS levels from harvesting. For germination to occur, the ABS levels in the seed has to be reduced. Although seeds have a natural pathway to achieve this, a lot of external factors such as soil nutrient composition, soil pH & moisture and soil temperature can interfere with the seeds natural pathway which can lead to poor germination. It is important to input Intelligence to the seed externally via seed priming or In-furrow application of the right combination of PGH’s and Co-factors. This will help reduce the seeds ABS levels and thus, give the seed the extra push it needs during its germination stage to become a vigorous & healthy crop. This, in simple terms, describes the bio-chemical process of seed germination.
Another important thing to point out is the role or sugar, calcium and boron in creating seedling vigor. Sugar feeds the beneficial microbes that are attracted to the seeds in the ground while calcium and boron helps with the silicon transport system to help with the transport of nutrients. There are complex reactions that take place in the soil and during germination. That why sulphur is important to serve as a catalyst to these reactions
As Crop growers & their agronomist plan for a seed treatment product(s), the following questions should be asked:
- Is it cost effective?
- Does the product help reduce the ABS levels while taking into consideration prevailing environmental stress factors during seeding?
- Is it easy to handle (Compatible with other crop inputs & Non- precipitating)?
- Is the product Customized to your crop growing needs?
- Does it input intelligence to your seed?
Crop differently by contacting our Certified Crop Science Consultant toll free @ 1-(855)-476-4276 for more research based information and updates on crop health inputs.