BIOLOGICS may not be a term you are familiar with but in years to come it could be an integral part of innovation in the horticulture industry.
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Bayer Business Development Manager Tim O’Grady spoke at the Queensland Country Life’s Food Heroes event at Koala Farms about his company’s investment in the new technology that is already proving successful in Australia.
About five years ago, Bayer made a US$425 million acquisition of the Californian company, AgraQuest who had 20 years of research and tested biologics products to their name.
One of three products to come from 25,000 individual strains that were screened included Serenade® Prime which Bayer has been trialling in Australia for the last two years.
The product includes viable spores of the QST 713 strain of Bacillus subtilis in a liquid form.
The bacteria live on plant root surfaces and in the soil around the plant where the two can develop a mutually beneficial relationship under suitable conditions.
Together they function at a higher level and resources required for growth such as nutrients and water become more available through the mutually beneficial relationship.
Mr O’Grady said crops that used the product had more uniformity with their produce, which flowed right through to product quality and shelf life.
He said it had been proven in basil, tomatoes, capsicum and avocados.
“They don’t fix the fundamentals of soil carbon but they compliment the soil health strategy of compost, cover crops, reduced tillage and good mineral balance,” Mr O’Grady said.
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
