Israel-based Grace Breeding Ltd., a developer of sustainable biological products to improve crop yield, on June 5 announced the results of field trials of its NFT Bio-Fertilizer in corn test plots in Paraná State, Brazil.
The tests, done in partnership with the University of Londrina (UEL), showed greater efficiency in the use of nitrogen and water and greater absorption of carbon in corn plants, the company said, confirming preliminary results from greenhouse studies reported in January. Brazil’s corn growing season typically sees reduced water availability, which Grace said makes the use of NFT especially valuable in those areas.
When applied with lower doses of nitrogen at half of the recommended rates, Grace said corn plants showed no changes in physiological and nutritional parameters, with no changes in leaf nutrient levels or the number of leaves, dry mass of shoots and roots, or stem diameter and size when compared with nitrogen applications at full rates.
“These results showing our environmentally sustainable NFT Bio-fertilizer enables robust corn growth in Brazil are exciting since Brazil has just been forecasted as the number one corn exporter, surpassing even the US,” said Assaf Dotan, CEO of Grace Breeding. “The results, initially conducted in the greenhouse and now obtained in field trials with the support of our collaborators at the University of Londrina and Gaia AgroSolutions in Brazil, further validate our technology as we get closer to being able to market in this important territory.”
“The complete results obtained from our trial with NFT are very encouraging, and we have found that the technology enhances the photosynthetic apparatus of the corn plant, increasing the carbon sequestration without the same dependency on water,” said Dr. Juliano Vilela de Resende, Agronomy Professor at UEL.
“Constant chlorophyll amounts were also observed, regardless of the nitrogen dose applied,” he added. “In addition to improving the physiological mechanism of photosynthesis, we also believe there were positive effects imparted on the soil biome – and specifically, that the technology is providing nutrients and carbon for beneficial microorganisms, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria.”