PhycoTerra Now Applied to 1 Million Acres of Farmland Worldwide
Heliae® Agriculture Celebrates Milestone in Honor of World Soil Day
Nov. 30, 2021, PHOENIX – Heliae® Agriculture, an algal tech company specializing in scalable regenerative agriculture solutions, announced today its PhycoTerra® soil microbial food products have been applied to over 1 million acres of farmland world-wide. In the spirit of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Annual World Soil Day, PhycoTerra® celebrates this milestone as it continues to help farmers, agricultural retailers and food companies adopt innovative regenerative agriculture practices to improve soil health globally – especially those with soil salinization issues.
World Soil Day shines a spotlight on the various soil health challenges our planet faces, and this year focuses on halting soil salinization and boosting soil productivity. Salinization is an accumulation of salt in the soil profile, which is a symptom of unhealthy soils, especially in arid and semi-arid climates. Heliae® Agriculture’s soil microbial food product portfolio, which includes PhycoTerra®, PhycoTerra® Organic, and PhycoTerra® ST (Seed Treatment), helps growers reclaim their fields from soil salinization by positively impacting soil health. PhycoTerra® products are proven to work across a wide range of soil types and cropping systems to improve soil structure, increase water holding capacity up to 10%, and optimize nutrient availability.
Salinization impacts the production potential of over 113 million acres globally each year (FAO). By feeding and activating the soil microbiome, PhycoTerra® products and their unique mode of action are key tools for resisting salinization and boosting soil productivity. Growers are seeing results globally.
“With PhycoTerra®, it became clear that microorganisms are key to a profitable crop,” said Pedro Bertagnoli Neto, grower of Sementes Butiá, Coxilha, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. “Last year the lack of rain at the beginning of the season impacted emerging soybean crops around the country. With the help of PhycoTerra® we were able to retain precious water in the soil, promoting ideal growth rate even in stressful conditions to provide us with an increased yield of up to 10%.”
“PhycoTerra® had a significant impact on our winter wheat crop,” David Woods, owner and farmer of Southern Border Partnership in Queensland, Australia. “We noticed an increase in plant vigor, and this was backed with clear evidence during the growing season with NDVI satellite images. A very dry finish put a lot of pressure on the crop, however early yield map indications showed yield increase of up to 5% in PhycoTerra® trials. Products supporting regenerative agriculture will help us increase yields, even in dry conditions.”
Dry soils are prone to salt accumulation because they lack the rainfall to flush excess sodium and chloride out of the root zone. Soil salinization is not the only challenge growers face. Boosting overall soil productivity is a critical problem growers world-wide encounter. Healthy soils are characterized to have an active microbiome, increased organic material, and excellent structure, which all assist in growing productive crops.
“Our region faced severe drought this year,” said Charlene Toth, owner of Smart Solutions Ag Products. “PhycoTerra® is a unique, innovative product that will help improve soil structure, water holding capacity and nutrient uptake for our crops in Western Canada.”
Regenerative agriculture focuses not only on sustainability and conservation, but also rehabilitating global food and farming systems. The key goal of regenerative agriculture practices is to improve overall soil health that supports positive climate changes.
“Extreme temperatures, increased droughts and more recent floods will only get worse without urgent climate action,” said Frank Mars, co-founder and Director at Heliae Development. “With nature-based solutions, such as PhycoTerra® now on over one million acres globally, we’re helping regenerate the soil today to build back the resources lost from recent extreme weather conditions.”
Heliae is committed to promoting soil health globally through targeted partnerships with retailers and food companies, continuous grower education, and advancing crop and soil sciences with innovative products like PhycoTerra®. Future partners in soil health can visit www.phycoterra.com to learn more about how Heliae® Agriculture and PhycoTerra® can provide solutions to support sustainability and regenerative agriculture initiatives.
About Heliae® Agriculture
Heliae® Agriculture, a division of Heliae Development LLC, provides innovative microalgal products to the agricultural community. Dedicated experts in the soil and crop science fields, Heliae® Agriculture is focused on delivering regenerative agriculture solutions with its PhycoTerra® product portfolio. PhycoTerra® branded products are sourced from nature and work to improve overall soil microbial health, structure, water productivity, and nutrient use efficiency, which helps to increase crop yields sustainably for the planet, farmers, and consumers. Learn more about how PhycoTerra® pasteurized microalgal products will help achieve your regenerative agriculture objectives at www.phycoterra.com.
Contact:
Lisa Scebbi
Marketing Director
Heliae® Agriculture
lscebbi@heliae.com