Crop Microclimate Management Launches Product that Fights Abiotic Stressors

Crop Microclimate Management said it launched a proprietary and unique mode-of-action product to the U.S. corn and soybean market to enhance crop productivity by reducing extreme heat, cold, drought, moisture and light.

Photon SG contains a class of natural plant compounds (dicarboxylic acids) as a 50% soluble granule. Effective at very low rates – just 0.3 to 0.6 oz. (wt.) of product per acre – this technology provides a low-cost, efficacious and naturally occurring non-pesticide alternative to existing yield-enhancing products, the company said.

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“Realize that up to 60% of all crop loss is caused by crop stress, which is why we’ve seen rapidly increasing global use and development of this product in areas such as Australia, South Africa and Chile,” according to Crop Microclimate President Chuck Kupatt, PhD. “Even in a ‘normal’ growing season, crops are stressed at some time on a daily basis.”

Photon stimulates a key stress-sensing enzyme system in plants to prepare them to react quickly and effectively to environmental stresses, like excessive temperatures (heat or cold), drought, flooding, salinity and high radiation.

Photon is systematically taken up by the plant within 24 hours of application, and remains effective for weeks. For corn, soybeans and other row crops, applications are timed to the growth stages most susceptible to abiotic stressors, to maximize treatment effects.

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Photon is used throughout the world on a wide range of crops, but Dr. Kupatt expects initial adoption in the United States by corn and soybean growers, followed by canola, and cereals in subsequent seasons. U.S. distribution is in place this season for a limited number of acres.

“Few crop protection products address environmental stressors, instead they tend to focus upon living threats like weeds, insects and fungi,” Dr. Kupatt said. “The next step in improving grower productivity, and therefore profitability, is to reduce the negative impact of environmental stress.”

For more information, please visit www.photonyield.com.

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