AgroPages-Some late season considerations from ICL for Soft Fruit Growers-Agricultural news

As the 2016 soft fruit season draws towards its close there is need to make sure that losses of any remaining fruit to be picked are minimized and also that protection of plants is maximized, particularly in the situations where those plants will be required for production in the 2017 season.

Within the ICL UK product portfolio there are three biologically orientated products from Lallemand Plant Care that are well worth considering to significantly help within late season soft fruit programmes. These products are Cilus®Plus, IntraCell® and Prestop® all of which have no re-entry restrictions, no harvest intervals, no residues and no MRL issues associated with them. Between them these innovative products can help with establishment, reinvigoration, protection - against root, stem, foliar and fruit diseases - and reduction of the impact of stresses on the crops leading to the enhancement of growth, fruit yield and quality.

Cilus Plus and Prestop are based on pure cultures of specially selected, naturally occurring, beneficial micro-organisms and are produced in industry-leading facilities to exacting standards which removes the threat of them containing any harmful contaminants.

IntraCell is based on a pure, very high concentration, natural osmoprotectant, which is produced via a patented extraction procedure.

Cilus Plus contains the spores of a specially selected soil-dwelling, spore-forming, rhizobacterium (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens bacterial Strain IT45) which aggressively colonises the area around the plant roots (rhizosphere) and feeds on root exudates that are readily supplied by healthy plants. In return they stimulate root growth by secreting growth metabolites and solubilise phosphorus as well as making iron bioavialable by secreting enzymes (phytases).

Prestop* contains the mycelia and spores of a naturally occurring, highly aggressive, soil-borne fungus (Gliocladium catenulatum fungal Strain J1446) which survives in the rhizosphere and on the aerial parts of plants for several weeks affecting a wide range of pathogens.

Always keep in mind that crops become stressed by a very wide range of factors:

Environmental - cold, heat, drought, salinity, radicular asphyxia (root suffocation especially from excessive water), low relative humidity, frosts, hail, wind.

Crop management - transplantation, root damage from cultivations, phytotoxicity from product applications, pruning and picking.

Phenological - rapid growth, budding, blooming, fruit setting and fruit ripening.

Biotic - pests and diseases.