Plant health key to resilient crop production
Building plant health to reduce stress and maximise potential is becoming increasingly important for resilient crop production.
With the seasons becoming more challenging for growers as we feel the effects of climate change, understanding the key threats to plant health and how this can be mitigated is key to minimise stress and keep plants fit and healthy in order to maximise returns later on. Biostimulant Bridgeway has become an increasingly useful tool for cereal, sugar beet and potato growers alike to reduce stress and maximise potential.
Carry on reading for more information on the key threats to cereals, sugar beet and potatoes and how Bridgeway can help. Or simply download your copy of our latest guides below:
Plant health key to resilient cereal production
Abiotic stress is a major constraint on crop production and food security worldwide. Heat and drought during the growing season are undoubtedly the two most important abiotic stresses having huge impact on growth and productivity of crops. Crop growth and yields are negatively affected by suboptimal water supply, and abnormal temperatures cause physical damage, physiological disruption and biochemical changes in the plant. Disease control is also becoming increasingly challenging with the pressure on fungicide actives increasing and the toolbox declining. Building healthy plants to help fight stress the natural way is becoming more and more important for resilient cereal production. Understanding the threats to plant health as we head into spring is key.
Key threats to manage
- Waterlogging can reduce rooting and cause nutrient leaching
- Excess rainfall slows tiller health
- Drought stress impacts yield and quality
- Heat stress limits potential
- Plant protection products and fertiliser can stress the crop
How Bridgeway improves plant health in Cereals
Biostimulant Bridgeway is the key to helping plants overcome the effects of stress by improving plant health. Containing all 18 L-amino acids and peptides required for healthy growth and development, feeding crops Bridgeway early in the season helps to optimise root & shoot architecture, build resilience to stress, and stabilise photosynthesis, so growth, development and grain fill can be optimised.
Stimulates root & shoot growth
Bridgeway contains high levels of rooting peptides helping to increase lateral roots and root length density. With improved root growth, crops are better placed to access the moisture and nutrients needed from depth, particularly when growing conditions become unfavourable. Stimulating shoot growth also helps to improve tiller health, important out of winter and spring. Leaf analysis on farm in a range of crops has proven that Bridgeway can increase chelation and uptake of macro and micro nutrients helping to support plant health.
Stress recovery & resilience
Amino acids and signalling peptides in Bridgeway provide the crop with an immediate supply to fight against stress. This is key to helping crops tolerate stressful growing conditions. Without Bridgeway, crops need to breakdown proteins they have made to source the amino acids and peptides needed to cope with stress e.g. proline, which is very energy intensive.
Increases rate of photosynthesis
Bridgeway increases chlorophyll in plants, increasing the photosynthetic light conversion efficiency of the crop. The ability of Bridgeway to help stabilise photosynthesis during the season is key to protecting the yield and quality potential of the crop, particularly in adverse growing conditions.
Key benefits of Bridgeway in cereals
- Improved rooting and nutrient access
- Aids stress recovery
- Builds resilience to stress
- Builds plant health to help fight disease
- May increase yield and quality
Download your guide here to minimise stress & maximise potential
For a greater understanding of the threats to plant health in cereals, and how these can be averted with the help of Bridgeway, download our Bridgeway cereal guide here.
Plant health key to resilient sugar beet production
High sugar beet yields come from producing a full leaf canopy that intercepts 90% of incoming sunlight as quickly as possible and maintains its greenness right through the growing season. Stress during the early stages of growth and development adversely affect photosynthesis and beet root growth, leading to yield reductions of up to 46%. Building crop resilience to stress is therefore critical to profitable sugar beet production and why integrating biostimulant Bridgeway into the agronomy programme has proven highly effective.
Key threats to manage
- Water stress limits leaf and taproot growth
- High temperatures and UV become additional stresses in a drought
- N shortage impacts top and root growth
How Bridgeway improves plant health in Sugar Beet
Stress-busting biostimulant Bridgeway is an indispensible weapon for sugar beet growers to beet stress and maximise profitable sugar beet production. Bridgeway treated plants may not always be looking too much different above ground, but its whats happening below that counts.
Stimulates root & shoot growth
Bridgeway contains crucial signalling amino acids and peptides which play a vital role in signalling healthy growth and development. Crops treated with Bridgeway have a more well developed root system which are therefore more efficient at extracting water and nutrients from depth. Bridgeway also contains 5% organic N which supports the crop’s high N demand early on.
Stress recovery & resilience
Bridgeway is highly effective at helping sugar beet to both recover from stress and build resilience to abiotic stresses. During drought stress proline and glycine help the crop to cope better with stress and help in cell turgor and osmotic balance protection.
Increases rate of photosynthesis
By increasing chlorophyll production Bridgeway helps sugar beet crops to harness light energy more efficiently. This is particularly important during periods of stress and can lead to increases in both yield and sugars.
Key benefits of Bridgeway in Sugar Beet
- Builds stress resilient sugar beet crops
- Helps crops recover from stress
- Speeds up tap root bulking
- Trials have shown increased marketable yields and sugars
Download your guide here to beet stress
For more information on the impact of stress in Sugar Beet and how to overcome them with Bridgeway, download our Sugar Beet guide here. It also covers information on farm trials and replicated fields trials.
Minimising stress, maximising photosynthesis key in potatoes
Keeping potato crops stress free is not an easy job for growers, particularly when you consider the key growth periods of June through to August are also potentially some of the most stressful for the crop, with temperature and drought stress being particularly prevalent. However, early crop stress, which reduces the rate of carbon assimilation and decreases partitioning of assimilates to the tubers, is the most detrimental to tuberization, bulking and tuber yield and beating stress is therefore a necessary evil to protect yield.
Key threats in Potatoes
- Temperature fluctuations cause erratic growth
- Reduced productivity >26oC
- Wind blow can limit photosynthesis
- Drought stress slows starch production
- Frost damage can be a hug setback
How Bridgeway improves plant health in Potatoes
With the potato tuber being mainly composed of photoassimilates, mostly starch, any mechanism to stimulate photosynthesis and translocation of the end product to the underground stem offers the possibility to increase tuber yield, and this is where biostimulant Bridgeway is particularly useful. Bridgeway offers the possibility to reduce stress by improving root health and by increasing the rate of photosynthesis to optimise tuber bulking.
Stimulates root & shoot growth
Bridgeway stimulates rooting, enabling the crop to draw on water and nutrients from depth, whilst supporting the larger canopy as the season develops. This is particularly beneficial during drought stress periods. Stimulation of shoot growth is also particularly beneficial to help frost damaged crops to recover as fast as possible.
Stress recovery & resilience
Amino acids and peptides in Bridgeway signal defence and recovery mechanisms in the plant. Regular applications of Bridgeway will help to build resilience to stress during the growing season and ensure tuber bulking continues, even during stressful growing conditions. Bridgeway treated plants invariably yield higher.
Increases rate of photosynthesis
The adverse affects of abiotic stress on the crop can be limited with Bridgeway, which trigger stress defence mechanisms and increases the photosynthetic light conversion efficiency of the crop. The subsequent translocation of assimilates to the underground stem ensures tuber bulking continues and helps to ensure resilient high yielding potato production.
Key benefits of Bridgeway in Potatoes
- Stress recovery
- Stress resilient potato crops
- Speeds up tuber bulking
- Increases marketable yield
Download your guide here for stress free, higher yielding potatoes
For a greater understanding of the abiotic threats to yield and how these can be mitigated with Bridgeway, download your copy of our potato guide here. You’ll also find replicated trials work from the last 3 years with Bridgeway as well as farm tramline trial results from the past couple of years.