Doctor Albert Liptay (Stoller International R&D Director) recently visited Adelaide, and took time out to talk with the Stoller Australia team about exciting things that he and other Stoller scientists have been researching.
Some years ago the Stoller Group realised that water and nutrients are only part of the story when it comes to getting the most out of our trees, vines, vegetables and other crops.
It seems that environmental factors and their impact on plant physiology often make or break the success of a crop.
Investing in technologies
Doctor Liptay stressed the need to keep attending to water and nutrients, and interestingly Stoller has invested in a number of capacitance probe systems to monitor trials.
The Stoller Group has also invested in UAV technology, buying into a company that has the software and hardware to optimise the use of drones for monitoring crop health.
Treatment—timing is important
It seems there are specific times when treatments can have a much greater impact on how a plant grows.
If we can identify these windows, treatments we make can be tailored for the best effect.
When cell division takes place the plant is performing at its peak and is creating millions of new cells in a very small time frame. This requires massive energy supply and is influenced by millions of signalling molecules in the tree. It is at these times that things need to go smoothly.
It is hypothesised that these times are:
Immediately around bud burst
When the reproductive stage commences
Whenever a stress event happens.
Dr Liptay says that it is at these times that the Stoller treatments work the best.
This is why we like to ensure adequate nutrients are present and stress is controlled at these key times.
It can be as simple as an early foliar or fertigation treatment, a pre–flowering application or a stress recovery treatment.
Product development and field research
Three things need to be considered to maximise yield potential:
Remove limiting nutrient factors (e.g. NPK, secondary and chelated micro nutrients)
Prevent and respond to stress events (e.g. specialty Stoller products like Foli-Zyme and Bio Forge)
Assist the tree through fruit development and reproduction (e.g. SETT/CaB, SETT Enhanced and Sugar Mover).
For more information see Tree Fruit Jan 2016
