Stoller launches package with inoculant, fungicide, biostimulant for soy in Argentina

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

The 2019/20 campaign is practically over in Argentina, and producers are beginning to focus on what the next season will bring. Three months before the first soybean plantings begin, the Stoller company launched a package with three integrated solutions, an inoculant, a fungicide and a biostimulant. 

“It is time to buy while thinking about the best strategies to increase productivity. In this sense, utilizing seed technology before sowing it is one of the bets to improve efficiency in the use of nutrients and, therefore, add kilos per hectare,” said the company.

According to Agustín Garnero (Stoller's Regional Technical Coordinator in the Southern and Southeastern Region of Argentina), the package will guarantee increased yields of over 10%. "The advantage of the package is that there are three technologies in a single pack, which can treat 6,000 kilos of seeds," Garnero said.

The first component of the package is based on the inoculant, Masterfix Premium, whose main benefit is its exclusive formulation that contains a bacteria with high infectivity and effectiveness, therefore, ensuring the correct supply of nitrogen through biological fixation.

"This also makes it possible to treat seeds and ensure correct nodulation for up to 15 to 20 days post-treatment," Garnero added.

Soy that is well-supplied with nitrogen results in increased yields, so Garnero noted that there are three key factors for evaluating nodulation, which are the number of nodules, their location and their color.

For example, a plant in stage R1 should have 15 nodules or more that are always on the main root. When a cross-section of the nodules is made, they should be red, indicating that nitrogen is being fixed.

“The use of inoculants is key to sustaining the high nitrogen demand of soybeans. For every ton produced, approximately 80 kilograms of nitrogen is needed. Bacteria in the soil, or naturalized bacteria, are much less efficient in this process,” Garnero explained.

The second component of the Stoller premium pack is the fungicide, Progus (Fludioxinil + Metalaxyl-M), which offers a wide spectrum of control against pathogens that are both in the soil and present in seeds. In addition, it does not affect the bacteria incorporated with the inoculant.

The third is Stimulate, a biostimulant that contains growth-promoting hormones that are key to completing the correct germination and crop establishment processes.

“What it achieves is uniform emergence and root development. A root that forms earlier has a better chance of success in terms of preventing bacterial infection and generating nodules. Stimulate, in short, has a synergistic effect on the BNF process,” Garnero said in conclusion.

AgroPages new issue 2020 Biologicals Special available for free download.