Biostimulants showcased in nutrition trial on Potato Agronomy Tour in West Norfolk

Account Manager, Jack Hill, has recently taken part in a Potato Agronomy Tour in West Norfolk. There were over 60 attendees including potato growers, agronomists and independent consultants.

One of the event’s key themes was alternative Nitrogen sources for potato growers. Attendees discussed the challenges involved with trying to reduce carbon footprint on potato production and what the ‘future of fertiliser’ may look like if growers start to make use of alternative sources of nitrogen, combining them with biostimulants to improve nutrient use efficiency to ensure marketable yield and quality are maintained.

Currently, potato production is heavily reliant on the use of inorganic Nitrogen, with fertiliser production and field-use the highest GHG emission source attributed to growing the crop. This is challenging growers, advisors and the wider food chain to think outside the box as to how things could be altered from a nutritional perspective to reduce Scope 3 emissions.

Nutrino Pro and Status® were trialled, with initial digs looking very promising. The field used for trials was split in half for its pre-planting fertiliser with one side using standard fertiliser and the other having Nitrogen reduced by 30kg/ha. The trial was observed via drone and scanned with Frontier Precision Services’s electrical conductivity technology. The MERCI tool was also used to analyse the cover crops nutritional value and potential return to the soil based on information from cover crop cut downs. This allows for a prediction on available Nitrogen from cover crop residues over time. The trial was set up as 18m plots due to field variability.

Jack tells us, “Biostimulants were applied at tuber initiation and trialled under a full and reduced Nitrogen regime. Under a full Nitrogen regime of 260 kg/N, the double application of Status® increased marketable yield by 4.5 tonnes per hectare, with the application of Nutrino Pro at 20 L/ha increasing yield by 6.3 tonne per hectare, outperforming the farm standard. Under a reduced Nitrogen regime, the double application of Status® still led to a positive response, increasing marketable yield by 3 tonnes per hectare. The potato agronomy day clearly demonstrated that biostimulants can play an important role in maintaining or increasing marketable yield in potatoes, even if nitrogen is reduced.”

You can read more about Status® and Nutrino Pro.

5th September 2024