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The Not-So-Invisible Enemy: Nematodes Destroy Yields Around the World

November 27, 2025
Technical News

The Not-So-Invisible Enemy: Nematodes Destroy Yields Around the World

by Bernardo Borges, PhD – FertiGlobal Technical Manager Brazil

On a hot summer afternoon in Brazil, a farmer looks at his yield map and sees the same picture as always: red patches that grow a little larger each year, where the harvester slows down and yields stubbornly stay lower. The soil has been corrected and fertilized, weeds, pests and diseases are under control, and the nutritional program was carefully designed. Everything went according to plan. “It must be the weather,” he thinks. Maybe the soil is “tired.” What he usually does not realize is that, just a few centimeters below his boots, a different story is unfolding.

In the root zone, hundreds of thousands of plant parasites are quietly stealing his yield long before the crop reaches the trucks. Nematodes silently feed, weaken roots and destroy productivity, but they are often ignored simply because we rarely see them. Their impact on agriculture, however, is anything but small.

Across all continents and production systems, nematodes act like a hidden toll on plant roots. A meta-analysis conducted by the American Phytopathological Society, grouping crops such as soybean, maize, wheat, rice, potato and sugar crops, showed that approximately 14% of potential yield is lost even before harvest — amounting to around US$125 billion in direct losses every year. Similar scenarios are reported in tobacco, banana and other high-value crops. In those fields, nematodes are not just “one more factor”: they are often the difference between profit and loss.

Part of the reason these parasites are ignored lies in how their damage appears in the field. Nematodes do not leave bite marks, they do not show up as clouds above the canopy, and they do not cover leaves with mycelium. They puncture roots, induce galls, create lesions and compromise water and nutrient uptake. Aboveground, many symptoms resemble nitrogen deficiency, water stress, poor seed quality or soil compaction. Without a clear understanding of what is really happening, these signs are often underestimated and attributed to other causes. It is no coincidence that it is still common to hear farmers say, “I don’t have nematodes in my fields.” Not having them is one thing; not knowing they are there is something quite different.

Brazil offers a clear example of how serious this “hidden” problem can become. A recent study conducted by the Brazilian Nematology Society, in partnership with private institutions, analyzed soil and root samples from across the country and detected nematodes in more than 90% of the samples evaluated. As mentioned before, not so invisible after all. This pressure costs Brazilian agriculture several tens of billions of dollars every year. In soybean — the country’s flagship crop — when the effect of nematodes is considered over time and across different regions, the conclusion is simple and uncomfortable: one out of every ten harvests is lost to them. A similar story is seen in crops such as coffee, sugarcane and citrus, where these organisms do not only reduce yield, but also shorten the lifespan of perennial plantations.

Why, then, despite this scale of damage, does the problem still sometimes seem secondary in agriculture? One reason is psychological: we tend to focus on what we can see. Another lies in the way nematodes erode productivity—gradually, in a cumulative and silent way. A few percentage points less yield this year, a bit more next year, a coffee field replanted earlier than planned, a sugarcane field with a sharp drop in production. No single event feels dramatic enough to demand an immediate reaction, but the long-term effect on productivity and profitability is substantial. The good news is that this enemy is not invincible.

Turning nematodes from a chronic, silent loss into a manageable risk starts with a simple step: making them visible in our decision-making. In recent years, routine soil and root sampling has been shifting the mindset from “I don’t have nematodes in my fields” to “what can I do to control this pest?”. Biological solutions and advances in soil health strategies have added new layers of protection within an integrated management approach. Beneficial microorganisms that parasitize or antagonize nematodes, improvements in soil structure and organic matter levels, and the use of antagonistic crops or species that exude toxic compounds to these parasites — breaking away from conventional rotation — have all been added to this toolbox. Seeing, measuring and integrating these tools turns nematodes from a hidden villain into a manageable risk within the strategy for productivity and system longevity.

Ultimately, recognizing nematodes as part of the production equation is deciding that we will no longer silently give up one harvest in every ten. As we incorporate diagnostics, integrated management, biological innovation and plant bioactivation strategies into our routine, we move from merely reacting to red patches on the yield map to building more resilient, profitable and sustainable systems. The enemy beneath our feet remains microscopic, but once it is seen, measured and managed it loses the power to decide the future of the crop – it becomes just another variable under our control.

News

Down Mexico Way

May 31, 2025
Mexico tour

Down Mexico Way

Mexico. You’re probably thinking about the unique food, characterful tequilas and the distinctive tunes of the Mariachi.

But while FertiGlobal’s Josefina Mackern enjoyed all these Mexican delights during her distributor support visit, it was the country’s diverse and extensive agriculture that brought her there.

As FertiGlobal’s head of technical development for the LATAM region, Josefina says it’s vital to get out in the country and – in typical FertiGlobal fashion – have ‘boots on the ground’.

“Mexico is a nation with enormous agricultural potential,” Josefina says. “Agriculture is an important economic sector for the country, and many farmers display a strong eagerness to adopt new technologies.

“For FertiGlobal, that attitude and interest make it an exciting market for innovation and growth.”

There’s great diversity in Mexican agriculture. Crops are the most important sector, contributing around half of all agricultural output. Corn, sugar cane, wheat, barley, tomatoes, bananas, citrus, mangoes, soft fruits, and coffee are among the most widely grown crops, annual outputs being sufficient to make it a top five or top ten producer for many categories.

For tomatoes and avocados, however, Mexico ranks as the world’s largest exporter. Next time you’re buying avocados at the grocery store or supermarket, check out where they were grown. There’s a good chance they’ll have been grown in Mexico.

Josefina’s two-week stay in Mexico first saw her supporting Koprimo, FertiGlobal’s longest-standing client in Mexico. Active across multiple sectors in the Mexican economy, from agriculture to automotive, and construction to mining, the company’s built an enviable reputation over its 45-year history – primarily for its socially responsible outlook.

“It’s no surprise that we saw them as an ideal partner for Mexico,” explains Josefina. “They recognise the agricultural industry’s responsibility to humans and the environment. FertiGlobal’s philosophy, as encompassed by our Four Pillars and the constant pursuit of sustainable farming, is a perfect match.”

Top of the list was attending Expo Agroalimentaria Guanajuato, a four-day show attracting professionals in the agricultural formulation and crop protection industries. It was a marvellous opportunity to engage with a wide cross-section of Mexican agriculture, meeting potential clients and discussing how FertiGlobal’s innovative technologies can provide the solution to many of their most intractable challenges.

“It’s the second time we’ve participated in the Expo,” notes Josefina, “and it really gives the most valuable, accessible way of connecting with key industry players, while spending time with the knowledgeable and enthusiastic Koprimo team – Héctor Ginez, Víctor Hugo Rodulfo, and Julio César Simiano.”

But valuable though these events are, there’s nothing like getting out in the field to see how FertiGlobal products are performing on-farm. Hand-in-hand with this is the ever-important need to see how growers respond to the FertiGlobal philosophy, and providing technical and commercial support to our distributors.

All this Josefina found with a trip to the San Quintín Valley. Located in Baja California, some 300km south of Tijuana, this is an area renowned for intensive agricultural production, growing everything from tomatoes, berries and cotton to cereals and vegetables.

But intensive farming has taken its inevitable toll – growers report depleted soils, and it’s recognised as an area on the ‘front line’ of climate change: altered rainfall patterns have increased the need for irrigation, leading to worries about groundwater depletion and desertification.

“Farmers are looking for products that can help them mitigate the effects of climate change on their crops, such as abiotic stress, while vitalizing plants with healthier and stronger growth, fighting disease without the need for harsh agrochemicals,” explains Josefina.

Mastranto is FertiGlobal’s new distributor for the northwest coast in Mexico. They sell to farmers through La Yunta stores; Josefina spent her first day in San Quintín in a technical training session.

“Mastranto received their first FertiGlobal products in December 2024, so we were very keen to prepare the team to understand their technical performance, how to deploy products to allow farmers to best solve their challenges, and to answer as many questions as possible.”

EnNuVi Technology has generated the most interest with Mastranto – Mantus, Laran and Lasa in particular – with FOLIFLO and FOLIMAC alongside, so Josefina’s next step was to see how these would go into action with producers. Tomatoes and strawberries are the prime targets for Mastranto with these products.

“Of course, no visit to Mexico would be complete without a study of the nation’s vineyards – it’s great that so many of our products have strong use cases in grapes and vines,” Josefina points out.

“The San Quíntin Valley is one of Mexico’s leading wine regions,” she says, “so it’s very exciting that we have producers, such as Dubucano and La Cetto, who look at FertiGlobal’s products and see solutions that could be right for them.”

Josefina says she’s looking forward to growing FertiGlobal in Mexico with help from such supportive and enthusiastic distributors.

“We’re poised to develop and explore a vast sea of opportunities in this expansive country. I feel confident about how the FertiGlobal philosophy of Total Crop Management is understood and appreciated here, and excited by its potential with such a vibrant, significant agricultural producer.”

News

The Heat Is On – for EnNuVi and FOLISTIM

April 23, 2025
Chilli focus

The Heat Is On – for EnNuVi and FOLISTIM

Do you embrace the chilli pepper, luxuriating in the heat it brings to your favourite dishes, and swapping anecdotes about the Carolina Reaper and Pepper X? Or would you rather enjoy the mild kick of the Serrano, steering clear of anything with a heftier punch?

If you’re of the former persuasion, then it’s likely you’ll also seek out the delights of dried chillis, whether whole or as chilli powder. And there’s a strong likelihood that your favourite spice was grown by one of India’s 100 million farmers.

Yes, we’re back in India again. It’s a country in which FertiGlobal has great interest, as regular blog readers will know from previous writings about ginger, apples, and cardamom.

India isn’t shy with its agricultural production, ranking at or near the top across a range of common crops. So perhaps it’s no surprise, given the country’s culinary reputation, to discover that India is the world’s biggest producer of dried chillis and peppers, accounting for about 40% of global production. Not just a producer, either: it’s also the biggest consumer and exporter.

Most of that production is concentrated in the state of Andhra Pradesh, on the country’s east coast. According to official data, chilli cultivation here utilises nearly 200,000 hectares, producing around 1.12m tonnes annually. It’s to that state we headed, with our branch in India SCL Commercial, to explore the potential of the FertiGlobal products Mantus and Semia to help reduce incidence of the most common diseases afflicting the region’s chilli crops.

A transition to Total Crop Management

As India’s farmers commercialise and move beyond their traditional ‘homestead’ farming systems, FertiGlobal believes there’s a strong case for introducing them to new, more productive practices – including the fundamental FertiGlobal principle of Total Crop Management.

Through Total Crop Management, we think about every crop throughout its lifecycle: what it needs, and what will make it thrive, at every stage of growth. So, as appropriate in each crop, that’s from germination to emergence to flowering to ripening to harvest, and so on.

Total Crop Management is primarily about crop nutrition. A plant that has its nutritional requirements fully satisfied will be better placed to stimulate and enact its own natural defence processes.

With Total Crop Management, you get a healthy plant that stays healthy – because it’s well-placed to defend itself against the invading pathogens that cause disease, depress yields and lower quality.

FertiGlobal Technologies

Our Total Crop Management approach is espoused by our Technologies – the families of products that our R&D team has formulated to provide farmers with sustainable solutions.

Each Technology combines plant nutrients, biostimulants and bioactivators to deliver specific benefits through particular mechanisms and modes of action within the plant.

For our chilli trials in India, we focused on our EnNuVi Technology, a patented technology that comprises high analysis formulations with nutrient polyphenolic molecules (NPM). NPMs play a prime role in activating the plant’s natural defences, by helping to manage the right balance between the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). ROS are a natural by-product of photosynthesis, but can be damaging if levels become too high.

All EnNuVi Technology products work to ENhance the plant’s performance against stress, by NUrturing with NPMs and VItalising the crop for stronger, healthier growth.

Such is the innovation encapsulated within EnNuVi that it has been recognised within the European Union’s LIFE programme for its objective of reducing the environmental impact of agricultural practices, without compromising the need for food and ever-higher yields.

EnNuVi in chillis

The village of Lingala, a farming community in the Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh, was the backdrop for our trials. Here, we sought to evaluate the performance of two EnNuVi products – MANTUS and SEMIA – on controlling anthracnose, dieback, powdery mildew and wilt diseases.

Nine farms within Lingala were involved in the trials. In all cases, the FertiGlobal products were compared against treatments made using standard farmer practices (SP).

Visually, plants treated with the EnNuVi Technology-based products were more upright and greener. In particular, farmers commented on the added ‘shine’ that the products seemed to impart to the fruits: this was unusually noticeable, and something they attributed to the improved health status of the crop.

Of course, we’re never happy with subjectivity alone. Yet the farmers’ optimism about their healthier crops wasn’t misplaced: what we saw, amongst all the treatment protocols for MANTUS and SEMIA, was not only an increased number of fruits per plant, but also the lowest number of diseased fruits per plant.

By adding both MANTUS and SEMIA to their treatments – which, in this part of India are commonly made by knapsack sprayers – farmers saw positive returns on investment over SP. Both products showed positive, consistent performance – convincing the Lingala farmers that EnNuVi Technology would be worthwhile.

FOLISTIM in chillis

Like EnNuVi, FOLISTIM is a FertiGlobal Technology designed to fulfil our ambition of Total Crop Management. It’s been developed with a specific goal in mind: promoting a vegetative reset in the crop, after periods of stress. Again, its focus is on good nutrition, by optimising plant nutrients to enhance final fruit quality and maximise its storage potential. FOLISTIM not only relieves abiotic stress but can improve resistance to it too.

With FOLISTIM, we went to the west coast state of Maharashtra. If Andhra Pradesh is known as India’s Chilli Bowl for its high production, then Maharashtra is the Chilli Paradise, producing some of India’s most sought-after chilli varieties such as the Dhani, Jwala, and the famed Bhiwapur.

Here, we looked at the effects of CREO on yield and commercial quality. Formulated around phosphorus, potassium and boron, it’s designed to support crops in their ripening. Of course, there are several factors involved in optimising ripening, so this became quite an extensive trial, measuring a variety of metrics such as flowers per plant and the numbers dropped, fruits per plant and the numbers dropped, plus plant height and eventual fruit yield.

Across every metric, CREO-treated plants performed significantly better than those plants receiving SP. Unsurprisingly, therefore, final yields showed significant increases: up to 20% over SP, with the increase delivering a net revenue benefit of nearly USD100 per ha.

Sample of the chili harvest and its weight (g) per plant according to the different treatments

That’s a return on investment of 2.68 – which just goes to show how a Total Crop Management approach not only benefits the plant and the planet, but profitability of the grower too.

For fuller details of these commercial trials in India, do get in touch: we’d say they’re hot!

News

National Tulip day

November 29, 2024
Tulip market in the Netherlands

National Tulip day

It’s the most widely recognised symbol of the country that grows three billion of them every year. It’s hardly surprising that they dedicate a day to the national flower: in 2025, celebrations fall on January 18.

Grown in the Netherlands since the sixteenth century, the tulip became so popular in the seventeenth century as to spark an outbreak of ‘tulip mania’ – a frenzy of speculative trading that saw the most sought-after bulbs sell for up to ten times the then price of an average house.

Fortunately, such days are past, yet its legacy remains: the tulip industry has become a significant contributor to Dutch horticulture in the 21st century. Growing the colourful bulb generates around €320m in export sales every year and, together with other flower bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses, gives the Netherlands a 90% dominance of world trade in this sector.

So where better for FertiGlobal to conduct a trial of one its innovative EnNuVi Technology-based products, to assess its performance in tulips and compare it with reference treatments?

Ianus is the newest member of the EnNuVi Technology product portfolio. EnNuVi, remember, an acronym of Enhance, Nurture, Vitalize – is a patented Technology that has a remarkable effect on crops, a unique ability to trigger and control plants’ defence and resistance systems.

EnNuVi Technology-based products are ahead of the curve in terms of the ‘next big thing’ in bioactivation products, for they can actually control the switching on and switching off of the plant’s genes.  By activating and deactivating genes involved with stress – whether that’s stress caused by external factors (abiotic stress) that might make the plant more susceptible to diseases, or the stress caused by disease itself – any one of the growing portfolio of EnNuVi products can help significantly reduce conventional pesticide use.

Ianus, in common with its EnNuVi stablemates, combines active polyphenols and selected natural ingredients to help the crop grow, healthy and strong, and to achieve its full yield potential. These polyphenols, when combined withessential nutrients into an active ingredient, namely, a nutrient-polyphenolic-molecule (NPM), bioactivate the plants. In the case of Ianus, the active ingredient manganese-zinc-polyphenolic-molecule is the ‘superpower hero’.

The manganese-zinc-polyphenolic-molecule has an important role in many of the plant’s essential biochemical processes, including photosynthesis, nitrate conversion and hormone signalling. But in a stress context, it has two further roles with big implications.

First, it ‘mops up’ what are known as ‘reactive oxygen species’, or ROS. Found in all living organisms, these are a natural byproduct of oxygen metabolism and are usually ‘used up’ in other processes. Sometimes, however, the balance can become upset – and in excess, ROS can cause significant damage to cells, DNA and proteins.

The other significant role for the manganese-zinc-polyphenolic-molecule is in plant defence: it helps the plant in its constant battles with disease-causing pathogens. A bioactivated plant defence system is like a well-equipped army.

As a result, better growth, development and yield. The manganese-zinc-polyphenolic-molecule protects chlorophyll from degradation so that the plants can keep a high photosynthetic activity even when under stress.

It’s why Ianus is such an exciting product to add to the portfolio of EnNuVi Technology-based products. It’s also why we were thrilled to put it through its paces in a trial organised by CEBECO, a subsidiary of the widely known and well-respected Royal Agrifirm Group, one of the largest agricultural cooperatives in the Netherlands.

Conducted in spring 2024, the trials involved the tulip varieties Jumbo Pink and Red Ranger. In three separate trials, the aim was to examine the effectiveness of Ianus against a variety of other foliar treatments; to evaluate the efficacy of Ianus on bulb production after the second year of cultivation; and to assess the effectiveness of Ianus (and in combination with other EnNuVi Technology-based products) in overall bulb production.

Tulip Trial

Observations showed Ianus could improve crop vitality, achieving by the end of the season the highest index of vigour across 13 different treatments.

Tulip Recultivation

Ianus improved crop vitality, reaching the highest vigour index at the conclusion of the trial.

In measuring the growth factor, i.e. the total weight of the crop/total weight of plantation, Ianus showed better results than any other treatment, indicating how Ianus can increase the crop’s overall productivity.

Our conclusion?

This is a great example of an EnNuVi Technology-based product achieving the overall FertiGlobal objective: reassuring growers that active biological products (keyword: bioactivation) can deliver as good, if not better, results than conventional treatments.

It’s one step at a time in our mission to help farmers produce better crops by using fewer harsh chemicals. And a great demonstration of our intention to demonstrate that FertiGlobal products aren’t just there to help grow food more responsibly, but also the many other products – fibre and flowers to name just two – that we expect agriculture and horticulture to provide.

At FertiGlobal the sustainability and quality across all forms of agriculture are in our sights.

News

The Apples of Kashmir

October 28, 2024
Indian market

The Apples of Kashmir

It’s known as ‘the fruit bowl of India’ for good reason. Here in Jammu and Kashmir, in the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, horticulture contributes nearly 10 per cent to the state’s GDP.

Fertile soils combine with a variety of climate conditions to favour a diverse crop of fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers. Citrus, pomegranates, lychees, almonds, tulips, walnuts and even high-value saffron are the bounty of the region’s farmers.

But it’s apples that are the undisputed leader, for it’s here that more than 75% of India’s apples are grown. Yet despite the crop’s value, farmers are not without their challenges – disease, climate change and various economic hurdles among them.

It’s for this reason that FertiGlobal has chosen Kashmir for the launch of our Apple Crop Management Program (ACMP). We’ve talked in previous articles about how our ‘boots on the ground’ philosophy pays dividends: being out in the field regularly, seeing those end-user challenges first-hand, gives us our own reality check. And it’s from these regular visits conducted by our Global Business Development Manager, Claus Brakemeier, that we’ve come to appreciate the real appetite amongst Indian farmers for new technologies that can deliver better crop quality and production.

“Farmers want to understand how they can deploy new methods and techniques, particularly with regard to nutrition, to help them upscale productivity,” says Dr Rajesh Kumar Sharma, FertiGlobal’s Technical Manager in India.

“They’re looking for safer ways to manage their crop. The currently accepted crop management schedule is pesticide intensive, which not only poses environmental hazards but can also lower product quality,” Dr Sharma points out.

Farmers’ reliance on crop inputs has been highlighted by the region’s politicians, with one recently expressing concerns over the sale of unapproved or even fake fertilisers and pesticides. Farmers using these have suffered crop losses and soil degradation.

“The fact remains that India holds the world’s second-largest area of apple production, yet is ranked fifth globally in productivity: 7.5Mt/ha versus a world average of 15.5Mt/ha,” says Claus Brakemeier.

“India has fair scope to improve its apple productivity, given that the world’s best figures are at 44Mt/ha and 40.1Mt/ha, for France and Italy respectively.

“The secret lies in stress mitigation and stage-specific apple nutrition, with a focus on calcium and magnesium,” he continues, “and it’s this that forms the basis of the Apple Crop Management Program.”

At the heart of ACMP lies EnNuVi Technology-based products such as Mantus and Cautha. These products embody EnNuVi’s bioactivating Technology, with its unique ability to trigger and control crops’ defence and resistance mechanisms.

By turning on and off certain plant genes, EnNuVi Technlogy offers a robust stress mitigation strategy. Prevention being better than cure, crops treated in this manner are strong enough to defend themselves against pathogenic attack, removing or reducing the need for chemical intervention.

The launch of the Apple Crop Management Plan follows earlier visits to the region by Mr Brakemeier, and the completion of a FertiGlobal-sponsored study, “Biotic Stress Management under Agro Climatic conditions of North-Western Himalayas of Kashmir (India)”, conducted by Sher-e Kashmir University of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Shalimar (Srinagar) (SKAUST-K).

It builds directly on insights shared by Kashmir’s apple growers as well as SCL Commercial India, which represents FertiGlobal in India. ACMP links FertiGlobal’s research-based Technologies to the support that farmers need, as more than 300 progressive farmers and agri-input traders were told at an invitation-only event to mark the launch of ACMP.

Delivering his inaugural speech, the Chief Guest Dr Nazir Ahmad Ganai (Honourable Vice Chancellor, SKAUST-K), welcomed the presence of FertiGlobal and Mr Brakemeier in the region. In particular, he called out the ‘overwhelming impacts’ of abiotic stresses on the growth and productivity of crops, noting that they in turn posed a threat of the biotic stresses of fungi, bacteria and viruses. Together, this combination could ‘develop constraints to food security worldwide’.

Continuing, Dr Ganai expressed his delight at the partnership between SKAUST-K and FertiGlobal, hailing the exchange of ideas, discussions among experts, and the import of ‘world-class technologies’ that would help address the challenges and identify the opportunities in sustainable, quality apple production.

Dr Rifat Bhat, SKAUST-K’s Project Leader for the FertiGlobal partnership, shared her own experiences and observations of FertiGlobal Technologies in the research project. She explained how the concept of stress mitigation is holding up favourably in the field, producing consistent results. She also shared her opinion on how FertiGlobal products were influencing key metrics, including crop vigour and apple quality, notably colour, shape and size.

“This was a unique event bringing together the scientific community, distribution partners, progressive farmers and, importantly, the local media that’s key to knowledge transfer and mobilisation,” concludes Dr Sharma.

“The event emphasised the need for advanced nutrition technologies and how FertiGlobal, through combining scientific endeavour and commercial wisdom, is becoming a valued partner to Kashmir apple growers in their pursuit of improved apple crop productivity.”

Dr. Rajesh Sharma (at the right side), together with mr. Tanveer, Country Manager SCL India (in the middle), and mr. Deepak, Sales Manager SCL India (at the left side)
News

Time for Navel-raising

August 22, 2024
FertiGlobal Crop Management Program in California

Time for Navel-raising

Total Crop Management is the FertiGlobal approach: the acknowledgement that a crop that wants for nothing is a healthy crop. And without a limiting factor, a healthy crop can put all its energy into yield.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when talking about ‘teamwork’?

Your first thought is probably along the lines of ‘interaction between colleagues’, or ‘collaboration’, or ‘working towards a common goal’. And you wouldn’t be wrong.

But why can’t we have teamwork between products, too?

That’s often the thinking that guides FertiGlobal’s research and development team. Most recently, they’ve put it into action with a Total Crop Management programme that focuses on the Navel orange.

Navel oranges – generally considered ‘eating oranges’ – are one of the world’s most popular citrus fruits, with around 50 different varieties. Originally discovered as a mutation in Brazil, in 1820, the fruit really is named after its similarity to a navel: a genetic mutation causes a small secondary fruit to grow within the main fruit, causing a characteristic hole at the blossom-stem end. Fortuitously, the same mutation also makes the fruit seedless, adding to its appeal.

First introduced into California in the 1870s, the popularity of the Navel orange grew and grew. Today, as one of the world’s preferred varieties of orange, it’s cultivated on every continent. But California remains its powerhouse location. According to California Citrus Mutual, the sector’s representative body, nearly half of the state’s total citrus area – 111,000 acres – is planted with Navel oranges.

Into this dynamic sector comes FertiGlobal, with its Total Crop Management approach. We were approached by an independent research organisation to conduct trials with three FertiGlobal products, in a bid to see how our innovative and unique technologies could boost three vital metrics associated with citrus-growing success.

  • Fruit Set: Citrus bloom is profuse. The average adult tree can produce up to 200,000 flowers a year. Clearly no tree can maintain and develop that many fruits; only around 1-5% of flowers will lead to harvestable fruits. But it’s important to optimise that number.
  • Fruit Size: Most growers will see this as the most important factor for maximising returns. It comes down to consumer preference: smaller fruits (below 65mm) are more difficult to sell than large fruit (above 72mm).
    What’s more, crop load – the number of fruit set – is inversely related to fruit size.
  • Yield: No explanation needed. Whatever crop they’re growing, every grower wants to get the best yields.

The researchers combined three of FertiGlobal’s key technologies, focusing the intended effects on delivering a healthier crop with increased yield and higher quality:

  • EnNuVi combines nutrients with bioactive polyphenols (nutrient polyphenolic molecule), going beyond nutrition to provide both a physical barrier and bioactive plant defences together letting the plant use the energy for more production and better fruit quality. Semia was the chosen product.
  • Foliarel uses boron to boost the effects of plant nutrients, as well as focusing specifically on flower fertility and pollen viability, ensuring high fruit set. Here, OK was proposed.
  • Foliflo features microparticle nutrition: a suspension of <10µm and <20µm, they’re optimised for plant uptake while assuring growers of very low phytotoxicity. For the trials, Nixi was applied.

   

“We had fantastic results with your program.”

That was the feedback from Sawtooth Ag Research, a leading agricultural research company based in California, following a 2022 trial. The company seeks out innovative crop production solutions, conducting field trials and experiments through collaborations with farmers and other industry partners.

FertiGlobal’s products were of particular interest: Sawtooth focuses on sustainability and efficiency, in a bid to optimise crop yields and quality.

The results speak for themselves. On a crop of Navel, cv Thompson Improved, just look at the specific metrics:

Weight: Semia/OK/Nixi programme

FertiGlobal trial orange - weight

Bins: Semia/OK/Nixi programme

Grower return: Semia/OK/Nixi programme

These results followed applications of the three ‘teamwork’ products at the following timings and rates:

  • Solo application of Semia: petal fall (13.7fl oz/acre, 1l/ha)
  • Tank-mixed application of OK (0.45lbs/acre, 0.5kg/ha) + Nixi (20.5fl oz/ac, 1kg/ha) at 30 and 60 days following Semia
  • Solo application of OK every 30 days (0.9lbs/ac, 1kg/ha)

We were delighted, not only to have such reassuring results but also with the very positive feedback from an independent research outfit. It’s further encouragement to our team that their ambitions to support plant health and productivity are, literally, bearing fruit.

For more information about finding the right Total Crop Management approach for your crop, don’t hesitate to get in touch – either with your local FertiGlobal distributor, or here through the website.

News

Why simple works

May 27, 2024
Report from global tour

Why simple works

Africa was the focus of our last blog, when FertiGlobal’s Business Development Manager Claus Brakemeier explained how our partners are crucial to the success of our products. In this second part of our Africa focus, we’re taking a closer look at the products finding favour with Africa’s farmers.

How do you launch products in a country where the farmers, without exception, are unaware of the FertiGlobal brand and its speciality crop input portfolio?

In fact, it’s not just the FertiGlobal portfolio of which they have little awareness. Farmers in our three ‘market entry’ countries – Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa – have little awareness of any speciality products, because they’re not using them. Compared with Europe, or Latin America, there’s very little market penetration of this crop input category in southern Africa.

At first glance, that might appear to make any kind of market entry an uphill struggle. But that’s exactly why we’ve been very careful to select the right products to make the right introduction.

No matter where they are in the world, farmers are understandably cautious about the claims attached to novel products and new categories. As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression; in farming, that translates to ‘you only get one chance to make the right decision’.

A product’s failure ‘to do what it says on the tin’ not only destroys trust in a category, but also directly affects a grower’s bottom line. At best it’s an unrealised return on investment; at worse, a potentially serious loss of yield.

That’s why FertiGlobal evidences all its product claims with full trial data. Farmers need this vital reassurance to give them full confidence in the provenance and performance of every product they choose to use on their crops.

Many farmers in this region already recognise that their crops are falling short of their yield potential, and that crops have yet to reach European standards of productivity. In many ways they’re hampered, though, because distributors do not carry the specialist products, such as biostimulants, that European farmers are so enthusiastically adopting.

Growers will often admit themselves that there’s a need for better knowledge mobilisation, too. Their uncertainty about which products to use, and whether they’ll offer a good return on investment, further dissuades them from stepping outside their product comfort zone.

Against this background, we decided to keep things simple. That’s why we’re blazing a trail into this region with just four key products: Mantus, Dinamico, Colore and OK. Well-known, well-proven products, they have been the subject of repeated, extended, widespread trials in many different crops and countries. We know exactly what they can do.

Keeping it simple means using these four products to demonstrate the concept and potential of FertiGlobal’s Total Crop Management approach, with a well-structured knowledge transfer programme run in partnership with Bancella. These four products also provide farmers with a comprehensive use case on the region’s key crops: tobacco, still of major economic importance in this region, vegetables, wheat, soybeans, blueberries, citrus, peas and potatoes.

In addition to Bancella’s role in helping FertiGlobal to secure registrations across the region, I’ve also been impressed by the enthusiasm shown by local agronomists and pest control advisers (PCAs). Brian Hayes, a well-respected and renowned PCA working with tobacco growers in Zimbabwe, has reported very positive results from his early trials with Mantus, one of our EnNuVi-enabled products. Here, a single application of Mantus at 1l/ha led to great result in fighting off Cercospora (frogeye).

Elsewhere in Zimbabwe, farmer Keith Butler is trialling OK on non-irrigated soybeans. While the crop has been under water stress, Keith reported that the area treated with OK – from our Foliarel technology range – has seen a marked improvement in plant development. We’re awaiting the harvest analysis to assess whether the visual cues extend to yield improvement too.

I can’t wait to share some further results from this region as we make progress in communicating the benefits of FertiGlobal’s Total Crop Management programmes to local farmers and their advisers. After all, this is an area with huge agricultural potential: its farmers just need the right tools and sufficient knowledge to help them realise it, sustainably and efficiently.

News

Why FertiGlobal values its partners

April 24, 2024
Report from global tour

Why FertiGlobal values its partners

A trip to South Africa beckoned for Claus Brakemeier, FertiGlobal’s Business Development Manager, in March. Here he explains what took him there.              

Sustainability, productivity and profitability: three of the key benefits ‘hard-wired’ into every FertiGlobal product.

But every one of our products – which all focus on protection, whether that’s of soil, seed, plant, yield or farmer – also comes with significant customer technical support. That’s in place to help farmers better understand our holistic concept of ‘Total Crop Management: the idea that optimising a crop’s yield potential is totally dependent on optimum plant health.

Every nugget of technical support has its origins in our R&D function. But how does that reach the farmer in the field, to give him or her the essential grasp of a FertiGlobal product?

Of course, there’s always the internet. Our website is a veritable treasure trove of technical guidance, essential trial results, and the all-essential regulatory information. Together, this provides an important backstop for any of our customers, wherever they happen to be in the world.

The internet, though, is only part of the story.

What really makes the difference is who we partner with to bring our products to end-users in new countries. These partners are vital in ensuring that our products reach the right audiences, with the right messaging, and with the right support to see them perform just as we intended when we developed them at our R&D facility in Italy.

Bancella, our partner in this region, is well-known for its commitment to bring new technologies to farmers – especially those that will allow agriculture to realise a more sustainable future in its key mission of feeding the world.

We’re delighted to be working with a partner who shares our beliefs. It was a pleasure to spend time with them, and their own regional partners, to get to grips with the agricultural zeitgeist in the region. As well as South Africa, we also visited Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Soybean field in Zimbabwe
Potato field in Zimbabwe
Blueberries field in Zimbabwe
Blueberries field in Zimbabwe
Meeting at York Farm in Zambia
Meeting with our distributor Amiran in Zambia

 

Having a partner like Bancella on the ground is particularly important for securing registrations in an efficient and timely manner. Anyone familiar with registration of crop inputs will know the spectrum of legislation across different countries, from ‘light touch’ to stringent.

Right now, Bancella is just beginning our market development across the region. In South Africa itself registration takes up to a year, with one in progress and five more in preparation, but in both Zambia and Zimbabwe the process is swifter: we have already registered seven and four products respectively.

What’s been really heartening to see is the sheer interest not only in FertiGlobal products but also the appetite from farmers and their advisers for solid, reliable technical information.

During my visit, I worked with Bancella’s local distributors to share with their advisers the key messages that lie behind FertiGlobal products, such as EnNuVi Technology, OK, Dinamico and Vesta. This kind of work is of vital importance when taking products into a new market: we need to be sure that advisers are confident about the ability of the products, in which crops they are most suited, and how farmers can maximise their benefits.

In the next blog, I’ll look more closely at some of the products we’re focusing on for this region and how we expect them to find a favourable reception with farmers across South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

News

Going bananas

February 28, 2024
Crop focus

Going bananas

It’s the world’s most popular fruit: every year, the 100 billion bananas we chomp our way through account for more than three-quarters of the tropical fruit trade. But as news of the first genetically modified banana has recently revealed, it’s a precarious trade.

Nearly every banana sold in every shop, in every country, on every continent, is a clone. They’re all examples of the Cavendish banana. Its ubiquity came about in the 1950s and 1960s because the previous global favourite – the Gros Michel – succumbed to the devastating Panama disease, caused by a form of Fusarium known as Tropical Race 1 (TR1).

The Gros Michel banana was itself a genetic clone, lacking the diversity that might have allowed it to evolve a genetic defence against attack by TR1. Instead, the Cavendish – a higher yielding variety, with thicker skin that made it even better suited to export – was selected from a naturally occurring hybrid that displayed the necessary resistance to TR1. It quickly became the world’s dominant banana variety, grown everywhere from South America to Africa and throughout Asia and into Australia.

But in 1990, a new disease – TR4 – was detected in Taiwan. Now widespread in more than 20 banana-producing countries, according to the FAO, it has put the Cavendish in potentially the same precarious position as the Gros Michel, eighty years ago. We could be facing a banana crisis on a global scale: in an industry worth $25bn, with annual production of more than 125 million tonnes, that’s a chilling thought.

What’s so devastating about Panama disease? Effectively, the total death of the plant: yellowing leaves quickly brown, before falling off. Then the fungus moves into the stem and roots, killing the tissue as it moves throughout the plant. Even replanting is not the solution. Once in the soil, TR4 becomes virtually impossible to eradicate.

It’s for this reason that the Australian government has approved an application from Queensland University of Technology to release QCAV-4, a genetically modified Cavendish variety developed to show resistance to TR4.

The resistance gene, labelled RGA2, has been taken from a wild banana variety found in South-East Asia. Interestingly, the gene is already present, although dormant, in the Cavendish variety. Approval of the variety gives the researchers the go-ahead to trial it in real conditions on farm; there are no plans yet to allow consumers to buy the new GM banana.

They’ll also try to use the CRISPR technique – gene-editing – to introduce the resistant gene, as gene-editing poses fewer hurdles when it comes to acceptance by regulators and consumers.

Another disease the researchers have identified as a target for gene-edited varieties is black sigatoka, brought on by the fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis. A foliar disease that causes lesions, chlorosis and physical collapse of the leaf, black sigatoka will ultimately cause the death of the plant. Chemical control is possible but requires an intense spraying programme of up to 50 applications every year. Even then, yield may be slashed by as much as 50%.

Adding to this grim outlook is the loss of many of the active ingredients that are most effective against black sigatoka. Mancozeb, for example, has already been banned in many countries; growers still permitted to apply it may nonetheless be prevented from using it, owing to production protocols imposed by their buyers.

But with any genetic solution still some way off, what’s the best option for banana producers facing the headache of black sigatoka? It’s a challenge that FertiGlobal took up.

Finding and commercialising these breakthrough solutions, that can assure farmers of yield and quality while observing regulatory parameters and environmental obligations, are FertiGlobal’s ‘bread and butter’. To help farmers navigate the threat of black sigatoka, we turned to our EnNuVi Technology, the patented nutrient-polyphenolic-molecule that focuses on facilitating the strengthening of the plant’s natural defence systems.

There’s a wealth of evidence to show that a balanced combination of nutrients – putting the plant in good stead – fortifies the plant, reducing its susceptibility to both biotic and abiotic stresses. With better health comes increased energy, allowing it to use its own in-built mechanisms to ward off attack by pathogens such as Mycosphaerella. If a plant can resist infection, a farmer’s need for fungicides is much reduced.

FertiGlobal took EnNuVi technology to India and the Philippines – respectively the world’s largest and sixth-largest banana producers – for trials.

The first trial, conducted in India, examined the losses induced in banana plants through leaf wilting. Farmer standard practice often saw wilting in more than half of all plants, leading to a loss in crop ROI of over $200/ha. But in plants treated with the EnNuVi-enabled Semia, the percentage of wilting plants was slashed to less than 10%, reducing investment loss by 85%.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the trial proposed to see whether EnNuVi would increase the number of functional leaves on each banana plant, boosting overall plant health and energy levels to help it fight stress and attack. Of all the EnNuVi products tested, Mantus provided the best result: a 44% increase in functional leaves, over the standard practice, after 45 days.

So while EnNuVi products can’t be seen as a direct replacement for mancozeb, because they don’t exhibit any fungicidal properties, they can – if applied at the correct time in the crop cycle – provide growers with an earlier alternative that may alleviate their need for fungicides at a later date.

We’re not stopping at bananas, of course. FertiGlobal is committed to ensuring continuing success in every crop in which we have an interest. If we can help farmers, wherever they are in the world, reduce the use of agrochemicals and maintain or increase their crop’s productivity and yield, we’ll find a way to do it. It’s the FertiGlobal way.

News

How FertiGlobal defines innovation through a new approach to crop protection

February 2, 2024
Biostimolanti in campo

A new approach to crop protection: how FertiGlobal defines innovation

Independent trials show the way

This leading Italian publication field-tested FertiGlobal’s products. Here’s what they found.

Established in 1945, L’Informatore Agrario is one of the most respected agricultural publications in Italy. Read weekly by more than 40,000 people, including breeders and technicians, farmers and agritech entrepreneurs, it’s come to be seen as one of the most qualified – and fiercely independent – sources of agronomic information available to the Italian crop production sector.

So, it’s not surprising that when the magazine launched an innovative new project – Biostimolanti in Campo (Biostimulants in the Field) – to help them understand the novel and exciting world of biostimulants, and how to incorporate them into their production systems, they attracted considerable support.

Not only is the project run in collaboration with the Centro Sperimentale Ortofloricolo Po di Tramontana di Veneto Agricoltura – the Venetian agency for innovation in the land-based industries – but it’s also garnered the backing of OP Isola Verde, a consortium of 19 businesses cultivating more than 280ha of greenhouse crops under organic and integrated crop management regimes.

And as if that’s not enough, the whole scheme’s scientific rigour is co-ordinated by four of Italy’s leading universities: Tuscia, Salerno, Naples and Padua. This project is about as independent as it can be.

“It’s that striking independence that attracted FertiGlobal to get involved in the project,” says Mohammed Mahboubi, Area Manager Mediterranean. “Biostimulants present a valuable and viable set of tools to help farmers improve the yield and quality of horticultural crops.

“With the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy encouraging a reduction in the use of agrochemicals and synthetic fertilisers, there’s a distinct role for biostimulants within farmers’ production strategies.”

Initially, the project covers just four crops: processing tomatoes, melons, zucchini (courgettes) and rocket.

“With the novel nature of many biostimulants, and the rapid R&D progress that FertiGlobal and others like us are achieving, there’s a real need for independent, farm-level research to help with practical knowledge transfer to improve usage and on-farm performance across a wide range of crops.

“Biostimolanti in Campo does just that. It’s a collaborative approach, bringing together not only the universities’ rigorous scientific overview and the expertise of the research centres, but also commercial diversity: it’s very promising that FertiGlobal is joined by other companies active in the biostimulant sector, to engage in this essential undertaking.”

Mohammed points out that the independent nature of the project allows evaluation of more than just the effect of biostimulants: it’s also about their economic convenience. “When manufacturers release information about margins and cost-benefit ratios, it can sometimes be perceived as biased, but through Biostimolanti in Campo we can demonstrate an impartial economic assessment.”

Processing tomatoes were one of the crops for which FertiGlobal supplied three products for the 2023 trials programme: ALPAN, CAUTHA and CREO.

ALPAN, a concentrated suspension of Mg and bioactive polyphenols, was developed to improve the translocation of photo assimilates – the products of photosynthesis – to promote root growth and increase sugar production. It also serves to bolster plants’ natural defence mechanisms and offers some protection against drought stress.

CAUTHA comprises a similar set of bioactive polyphenols, this time co-formulated with Ca. Reducing the effect of biotic and abiotic stress on plants, it maintains chlorophyll levels and helps the crop accumulate valuable osmo-protective molecules.

CREO is a foliar fertiliser fortified with L-methionine. The addition of this important amino acid serves to improve the uniformity of fruit ripening and increases Brix.

A programme comprising all three products was devised by the independent trials team:

 

Weeks since transplanting Crop growth stage Product applied Rate Water volume
7 Fruit growth commencing CAUTHA 2L/ha 1000L/ha
8 CAUTHA 2L/ha 1000L/ha
9 Fruit growth complete CAUTHA+ALPAN 2L/ha 1000L/ha
10 ALPAN 2L/ha 1000L/ha
11 Beginning to mature CREO 3L/ha 1000L/ha
12 30% fruit mature CREO 3L/ha 1000L/ha
13      

“We were very pleased with the results,” Mohammed enthuses. “The FertiGlobal protocol delivered a 17.6t/ha increase over the farmer standard practice. At prices in place at the time, that would add nearly €3,500/ha to a grower’s margin.

“But it wasn’t just quantity – yield – that improved; we saw some dramatic increases in quality too.”

Overall, fruit from treated plants displayed better vigour, and was more consistent – an important parameter for transport and processing. There was also a slight increase in

°Brix.

“This is but one trial”, says Mohammed, “albeit one carried out independently by well-regarded and prestigious organisations.

“However, it clearly shows the ability of well-developed, science-led biostimulants to improve not just profitability on-farm – that €3,500/ha increase comes from an investment of just €200/ha in input costs – but environmental performance too.

“One-fifth of the treated fruit was rejected, compared to one-quarter from the control plots. We know we have a problem with food waste, but efforts to reduce it begin at the farm, way before it reaches the fork.

“We look forward to continuing to work with L’Informatore Agrario on Biostimolanti in Campo,” Mohammed concludes. “There’s work still to be done: to progress further with the on-farm knowledge transfer, yes, but also in the exciting direction of seeing how biostimulants and innovative solutions can be used to reduce both plant protection products input and irrigation demands while maintaining production output and efficiency.

“Biostimulants, bioactivators and innovative nutritive solutions really are the new frontier for crop production.”

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