How to grow healthier, stronger and more resilient crops

Key threats to plant health this spring

High fertiliser prices and shortages

• With exorbitant fertiliser prices and shortages, rate reductions could compromise yield potential
• And will plants have access to all the N they need for amino acid biosynthesis? – critical for healthy growth and development and play a vital role in virtually every process within plants
• Optimising nutrient-use efficiency will be crucial to make the best of available nutrition
• Micronutrients will be vital to help macronutrients do their job and promote healthy growth and development

Poor uptake and assimilation is limiting nutrient-use-efficiency

• Average nitrogen-use-efficiency of crops is reported to be 60% but research says 80% achievable
• Nitrogen-use-efficiency of granular fertilisers can be low in dry springs
• Nitrate is highly mobile – nitrate leaching reduces crop access with heavy rainfall
• Lazy roots limit uptake deeper down
• Organic fertilisers are not always immediately accessible to crops
• Deficiency stress leads to poor efficiency

Climate change is increasing the prevalence of abiotic and biotic stress

• Abiotic stress (e.g. cold, heat, frost, salinity, drought) is becoming a major constraint on crop production
• Biotic stress via pests, pathogens and weeds is becoming increasingly difficult to manage
• Each stress elicits a complex cellular and molecular response system implemented by the plant in order to prevent damage and ensure survival, but often at the detriment of growth and yield
• Drought stress prevents photosynthesis, slowing growth and reducing plant size/productivity
• Cold stress reduces/stops photosynthesis, slowing growth
• Frost stress can hold crop growth back weeks
• Heat stress stops photosynthesis, reduces water and nutrient uptake, impeding growth
• Erratic temperatures stop:start photosynthesis causing erratic growth / tuber cracking
• Stress-busting amino acids are needed in high quantities in stressed crops

Consider Bridgeway to get crops season ready

Amino acid biostimulant Bridgeway provides triple action power to plants through biostimulation, nutrition, and anti-stress action to nourish and protect crops under increasingly adverse growing conditions.

Helping to build healthier, stronger and more resilient plants, it will be a valuable tool in the armoury to get crops ready for the challenges ahead this spring:

1. Stimulates rooting

Contains high levels of root stimulating amino acids and peptides that increase the lateral roots and root length density of plants.

The more robust and expansive root systems enable crops to capture nutrients readily available in the soil and leached water and nutrients lower down.

Building strong root systems with Bridgeway early in the life of the crop will help to supply the water for photosynthesis and transpiration that is needed for highly efficient crop production.

2. Increases nutrient-use-efficiency

Increases nutrient uptake and the translocation of both macro- and micro-nutrients within the plant, by changing root morphology, improving micronutrient mobility in the plant, and by increasing activity of NO3-assimilation enzymes.

The small molecular weight of L-glycine and L-glutamic acid, natural chelating agents, also support the assimilation of metals such as Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu, by making them more readily absorbable through roots and leaves.

3. Kick-starts growth

Stimulates growth regulating phytohormones that promotes shoot growth and biomass production, supported by more abundant resources to optimise plant growth and development.

4. Amino acid hit

Provides an immediate and usable source of stress-busting L-amino acids to support the defence systems of plants.

Bridgeway is rapidly absorbed by the leaves and translocated in plant tissue and also supports protein synthesis critical for plant structure, metabolism, hormones, nutrient transport and amino acid stock.

5. Powers photosynthesis

Increases chlorophyl production in plants, increasing the rate of photosynthesis. The higher glucose production provides more energy for crop growth which is particularly advantageous at key development growth stages when energy demand is high.

The ability of Bridgeway to help stabilise photosynthesis during the season is key to protecting the yield and quality potential of the crop when abiotic and biotic stress would usually reduce the plant’s energy supply, suppressing growth.

6. Stress protection

Provides an immediate supply of stress-acting amino acids that signal the defence systems of plants, avoiding the recycling of proteins to amino acids at huge cost to the plant.

Under low temperature, water deficit, salinity stress, and high UV exposure, stress-busting proline accumulates in cells where it is needed to suppress oxidative stress, and secure osmotic balance to maintain cell turgor when water is limited.

Under heat stress, glutamic acid (in high concentration in Bridgeway) acts as an osmotic agent triggering stoma to open, enabling photosynthesis, water and nutrient absorption to continue, even during stressful growing conditions.

Bridgeway helps plants to adapt to stressful growing conditions and rapidly resets the balance between stress resistance and growth, critical to secure yield and quality potential.

Find out more about the issues and how Bridgeway can power crops and help secure yield at www.interagro.co.uk

Bridgeway benefits proven in replicated trials and reported from the field

1. Significant increases in root and shoot growth in stressed and non-stressed cereals in controlled environment conditions

2. Rooting and growth benefits from the field

3. Higher brix readings demonstrating increased energy production from higher rates of photosynthesis

4. Increases in nutrient uptake in a range of crops

5. Abiotic stress protection in wide range of crops including potatoes, sugar beet, cereals, WOSR, veg, fruit

6. Supports biotic stress protection in cereals and veg

Download our Bridgeway handbook here for performance in trials, testimonials, recommended crops and rates and FAQs.