The agricultural sector today faces significant challenges, making it even more important to add new tools and solutions to the primary sector. An effective and environmentally friendly innovation is the use of bio activators, such as seaweed, enriched and combined with different groups of ingredients. These bio activators enhance flowering, plant growth, fruit set, crop productivity and nutrient use efficiency, while at the same time they can improve tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses.
One such bio activator is Agrology’s new Seaweed Protonic® product line. The Protonic® series consists of bio activators based on seaweed extracts, enhanced with organic bioactive ingredients and/or selected trace elements.
The formulation of Protonic® Quattro, in the series of Protonic® line, is a holistic bio activator with 50% extracts of Laminaria digitata and Ascophyllum nodosum algae and 20% mixture of L-amino acid hydrolyzed proteins, reinforced with Molybdenum (Mo), Cobalt (Co) and Carboxylic Acids. It is a product designed for use throughout the cultivation and for each phenological stage of the plant.
Seaweed Extracts – Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture
The beneficial effect of seaweed extracts is now widespread and the increase in their use is rapid in modern agriculture. Protonic® Quattro contains two different species of algae, Laminaria digitata and Ascophyllum nodosum, which have a selected due to their great effectiveness, but also thanks to their synergistic action.
Seaweed contain high concentrations of carbohydrates, plant hormones (cytokinins, auxins, gibberellins), proteins and polysaccharides. It is also a rich source of various secondary metabolites, which activate endogenous defense mechanisms against abiotic (temperature, drought) and biotic stress (enemies, diseases). Although algae are rich in nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, etc.) the beneficial effects are mainly attributed to the regulatory effects they have on the plant’s metabolism.
The process of producing a seaweed extract is extremely important. The special cold extraction treatment of the two seaweeds of Protonic® Quattro ensures a natural product that keeps all the nutrients of Laminaria digitata and Ascophyllum nodosum intact.
Overall, the combination of the two algae contributes to:
- Resistance against abiotic stress
- transplantation
- salinity
- drought/ heat
- frost
- flooding.
- Promote growth, increase efficiency, and improve the quality of the final product.
- increase in phenolic and antioxidant substances.
- increased post-harvest life.
- Strengthen the root system and
- increase the utilization of nutrients.
Amino Acids – Foundations of Total Plant Performance
The importance of amino acids in plant growth and stress tolerance has become increasingly evident. That is because they are the “raw materials” for the synthesis of the plant’s basic structural proteins. Also, they affect numerous physiological processes due to their participation, as metabolites, in the regulation of multiple physiological and biochemical pathways of the plant organism. Amino acids produced by enzymatic hydrolysis have a left-handed orientation and are called L-amino acids, and this form is the only one digestible by plants.
Protonic® Quattro contains a 20% L-amino acid mixture of hydrolyzed plant proteins that are highly digestible and enhance plant bioactivation.
The foliar application of amino acids allows their immediate absorption and rapid movement in the plant tissues. This is energetically beneficial for the plant. In addition, the supply of amino acids through fertilizing, helps to improve the microflora of the soil and thus facilitates the assimilation of nutrients.
The use of amino acids is indicated in critical stages in the development of the crop. Stages such as the formation of buds, fruit set, growth and development of the fruit as well as in situations of intense abiotic and biotic stress.
By using amino acids, we achieve:
- Enhance the plant’s tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
- Increase fruit set and overall yield.
- Improvement of the organoleptic characteristics of the fruits.
- Save energy from the plant.
- Improve the development of the root system.
- Enhancement of chlorophyll synthesis which improves the photosynthetic capacity of the plant.
Carboxylic acids – Plant growth regulators
Organic acids show great differences in terms of their size but also in their ability to form digestible complexes by plants. Carboxylic acids are the most common type of organic acids. They have at least one carboxyl radical (-COOH) and have an acidic pH.
Plants synthesize low molecular weight carboxylic acids that are important bonding factors. They have strong absorption and rapid translocation inside the plant. This results in more efficient use of the nutrients that they are associated with. In addition, low molecular weight carboxylic acids increase the osmotic pressure of the plant, and transport nutrients and sugars to the plant organs in need. In this way, carboxylic acids improve the quality of the final product.
Protonic® Quattro is enriched with low molecular weight carboxylic acids and the results from its use are similar to those naturally produced by the plant’s physiology.
This is how we achieve:
- Improving the uptake of nutrients.
- Promote plant growth.
- Increase production and improve the quality of the products.
Molybdenum – A “key” trace element in nitrogen metabolism
Even as a trace element, molybdenum (Mo) is essential for the orderly growth of plants. The most common symptom of Mo deficiency is chlorosis of the leaves and resembles nitrogen deficiency. Chlorosis is often followed by wilting and necrosis. The symptoms usually appear first in older tissue and then in young leaves, while there are also disorders of fruit setting due to the incomplete development of the productive organs.
Mo involves in many important metabolic processes (e.g., chlorophyll synthesis) of the plants, while at the same time it is a structural element of enzymes closely related to nitrogen metabolism in the plant. More specifically, it enhances its binding, as it is an integral element of the nitrate reductase and nitrogenase enzymes. Nitrate reductase converts nitrate ions to nitrite, which is the first step in the incorporation of nitrogen into proteins. Nitrogenase, the key enzyme of nitrogen fixation, catalyzes the binding of atmospheric nitrogen and reduces it to ammonia, a form that can be directly absorbed by the plant.
In addition, Mo acts as a cofactor in important enzymes of plant hormone synthesis processes, such as abscisic acid (ABA) and auxins. Finally, the application of Mo improves the availability of phosphorus in the soil as there is a synergistic interaction of the two elements due to the formation of anionic complexes between them.
Cobalt – The beneficial element
Cobalt (Co) is an essential component of vitamin B12 and its derivatives and is also a co-factor in a wide range of enzymes and proteins. It is essential for the growth of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes and plays a vital role in maintaining the cellular homeostasis of plant tissues.
Co Benefits:
- Strengthening the action of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
- Slowing down aging, by inhibiting the action of ethylene and contributing to a longer post-harvest life of the products.
- Increased tolerance to drought conditions.
WHY Protonic® Quattro
- It combines extracts of two different seaweeds.
- High contents of seaweed extracts and L-amino acids.
- Cold processed seaweed extracts.
- Fortified with Carboxylic Acids and trace elements.
- Promotes phosphorus uptake by plants.
- Strengthens and activates the root system.
- It contributes to nitrogen metabolism.
- It improves the nutritional value and the post-harvest shelf life of the products.
- Compatible with Organic Farming.
It is a product for frequent applications from the beginning of cultivation to harvest. It contributes to the effective establishment of crops, improving resistance and faster recovery from abiotic and biotic stress.