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Editor’s Note: Neil
Stapensea is director of business development for the Stoller
Group, Houston. He joined Stoller in late 2003 after working
in the distribution trade and 20 years with BASF in various
capacities in Canada and the United States. The Stoller Group
began more than 30 years ago and has grown from a small micronutrient
company to the world leader in the development and sales
of crop health products.
AM: What is Crop Health Therapy?
NS: Crop Health Therapy is based on the
use of naturally occurring growth factors applied to plants
to maximize their
genetic expression. Genetic expression is compromised by
stress, usually from unfavorable weather. Stress results
in an imbalance between growth hormones (auxin, cytokinin
and gibberillic acid) and stress hormones (ethylene and abscisic
acid). Crop Health Therapy maintains the appropriate hormone
balance throughout the growing season to make plants more
resistant to stress, allowing the full expression of a plant’s
genetic potential.
AM: How is biotechnology different?
NS: Biotechnology can insert specific traits
into plants producing their genetic potential. However, these
plants
must be grown in a favorable, stress-free environment for
this genetic potential to fully express itself in terms of
marketable yield. Generally speaking, we are only harvesting
about 30 percent of the genetic potential for most plants.
Biotechnology and breeding provide the genetic potential;
Crop Health Therapy helps to realize it.
For example, different
soybean varieties can have the inherent genetic potential
for a certain level of oil or protein content. However,
growing conditions will ultimately determine the actual level
of
oil or protein in soybeans. Crop Health Therapy can ensure
more stress-free plant growth by maintaining the appropriate
hormone balance needed for maximum genetic expression,
in this case higher oil or protein soybeans. AM: What channels
are you using to educate growers about Crop Health Therapy?
NS: Seeing is believing, so we work closely
with crop consultants to educate growers. Crop consultants
demonstrate the technology in a grower’s field and
help the grower monitor crop development enhancements compared
to untreated areas throughout the growing season.
We are
also working with progressive dealers and distributors
holding grower training seminars. Dealers are able to differentiate
themselves with value-added service and productionenhancement
technology that benefit both themselves and their customers
through realization of a higher return on investment from
the sale and use of Crop Health Therapy. AM: What benefits
are growers experiencing with use of Stoller products?
NS: The results are significant increases
in marketable yield: preliminary university and field demonstration
trials have
shown increases of 60 to 110 percent in bell peppers, 85
percent in onions and 15 to 30 percent in potatoes, with
promising indications in corn and soybeans not yet harvested.
These trials consistently show significant enhancement of
harvested fruiting part (fruit, seed, tubers, etc) uniformity,
desired quality and storability, which command price premiums
over lower-quality fruit. Seed companies and food processors
are starting to recognize the value of Crop Health Therapy.
AM: What are the challenges of launching a new crop technology
category?
NS: Education and extension. This technology is neither fertilizer
nor pesticide. It fits more with seed and biotechnology in
terms of extracting and realizing the genetic potential of
plants. Crop Health Therapy allows us to manage the plant
based on the most limiting factor: Mother Nature.
With the
extensive cutbacks in government and distribution trade
field extension resources, we continue to look for progressive
crop consultants, dealers and distributors to help explain
and demonstrate the power of this new technology. This
entails
learning a whole new science and terminology (the language
of the plant) and thinking of crop production in a new
way that complements what we are already doing. To facilitate
the education process, Stoller has produced a booklet called
the “Crop Health Guide: Maximizing Plant Genetic Expression,” which
explains the science behind Crop Health Therapy.
Crop Health
Therapy is a new tool that helps take crop production to
a higher level. It increases high quality, marketable yield
per acre with a corresponding reduction in unit production
cost for an improved total return on investment. This is
the best defense in an increasingly competitive and economically
challenging market environment. AM
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