How to manage heat stress in crops from FBSciences' agronomy team

High summer temperatures can cause heat stress associated problems with many different types of crops. When soil and air temperatures rise beyond a threshold level for a sustained period, they can deal permanent harm to plant growth and development. Why does alfalfa hay quality deteriorate during the summer months? What makes almonds and pistachios loose bud fruitfulness the year following a hot summer? Why do tomatoes have blossom shed, blossom end rot, and other problems in response to high temperatures? Agronomists have given this "common thread" the name oxidative heat stress. It explains why yields and crop quality so often decrease as temperatures ascend. Oxidative heat stress also results in a weakening of plants that leads to increased susceptibility to various diseases. The good news is that an improved understanding of abiotic stress like heat stress has led to the development of successful strategies to moderate and counteract the detrimental effects.

WORSENING HEAT STRESS

Globally, growers are facing increasingly challenging growing conditions and a dramatic uptick in abiotic stress. Heat stress is contributing to the increase in drought-prone areas around the world and has the potential to reduce plant growth and crop productivity of major crops. Heat stress can have a tremendously detrimental impact on crops, with long term negative consequences on crop productivity and yield. As global populations explode in number, increasing yield and productivity demands, tools, and strategies to combat heat stress are crucial.

SIMPLY PUT, HEAT STRESS INVOLVES TWO FACTORS:

• When respiration (the consumption of sugars) outpaces photosynthesis (the production of sugars)
  

• When damaging oxidants are generated, degrading plant cells and cell membranes

PROTECTING CROPS FROM HEAT STRESS INVOLVES FOUR THINGS:

• Helping the plant cool itself through transpiration

• Assisting photosynthesis

• Slowing respiration down
  

• Promoting the action of antioxidants

DAYTIME VS NIGHTTIME FACTORS

TEMPERATURE & HUMIDITY ARE THE BIGGEST WEATHER FACTORS

Daytime

Humidity plays a key role because plants cool themselves by transpiration. If the air is humid, or if soil water is limiting, they cannot cool themselves well. As a result, excess humidity or moisture stress drives up canopy temperatures and results in even greater heat stress.

Nighttime

Heat stress is not only a daytime concern, but nighttime temperatures are important because respiration continues at night. Nighttime temps also affect soil temperatures. Roots respire at a rate that corresponds to soil temperature.

Growers know that heat spells are one of the worst things for their crops. Oxidative heat stress is the single phenomenon behind the following common agricultural problems:

• Decreased fruit size and poor bud fruitfulness on fruit and nut orchards.

• Poor pollination of vegetables like tomatoes due to blossom shed.

• Lack of pod-fill on beans.

• Reduced sugar accumulation in grapes, strawberries, and stone fruits.

• Decreased protein in hay and grain crops.

• Depressed yield and poorer fiber quality in cotton.

• Increased disease incidence on many crops.

Since controlling the weather is not an option, growers can adjust cultural practices to decrease the internal temperature of the plants and condition the crop for an improved physiological response to the heat. FBSciences has several such product offerings, focused on aiding in abiotic stress mitigation, especially when it comes to heat stress.

BOUNCEBACK^® FOLIAR BUILT WITH FBS TRANSIT^®

BounceBack Foliar is a product specially formulated for moderating heat stress. It has 8% calcium in the very form that assists respiration. Calcium plays a key role in regulating the speed of respiration under periods of oxidative heat stress. Supplying the plants with adequate calcium greatly reduces the negative effects of respiration by slowing down the burning of sugars and helping maintain cell membrane integrity. BounceBack Foliar is also rich in organic acids that help plants regulate transpiration during periods of moisture and heat stress.

ANTIOXIDANTS

Free radicals are highly damaging molecules that steal electrons from other cellular components. They are produced in great numbers during heat stress resulting in the destruction of cell membranes and the leakage of amino acids and other metabolites. This leakage weakens the plants and invites disease causing pathogens. Antioxidants are produced by plants during periods of stress to combat free radicals like peroxide and hydroxides. They can also be applied to plants via the foliage and have been shown to greatly improve resistance and recovery of plants to heat stress. FBSciences' products are formulated to be rich in the specific antioxidants that promote heat stress resistance. These antioxidants are the very compounds that heat-resistant plants produce naturally in abundance.

ZICRON^® FOLIAR AND ZICRON^® SOIL BUILT WITH FBS TRANSIT^®

Both Zicron Foliar and Zicron Soil are premium zinc and manganese products built with FBS Transit, FBSciences' proprietary biostimulant technology, along with various organic compounds that contains highly efficient zinc for highly mobile uptake within the plant for lasting symptom correction. Zinc is an essential micronutrient that plays a fundamental role in crop resistance against abiotic stressors like heat stress. Zinc interacts with plant hormones, increases the expression of stress proteins, and stimulates the antioxidant enzymes for counteracting drought effects. Under heat stress conditions, a zinc application can improve seed germination, cell membrane stability, stomatal regulation, water use efficiency and photosynthesis, thus resulting in significantly better plant performance despite abiotic factors.

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About FBSciences

FBSciences, acquired earlier this year by Valent BioSciences, is a global leader in the innovation and commercialization of climate-smart biorationals for agriculture. The company's naturally derived, proprietary technologies are the foundation for its biostimulant, biopesticide, and crop nutrition product lines. FBSciences has proven that its technologies and products increase quality and nutrient density, improve stress mitigation and recovery, produce healthier plants and higher yields, and increase utilization of other crop inputs. In addition, the company's sustainable products provide measurable benefits to the environment, including increased nitrogen use efficiency, leading to N₂O emissions reduction, decreased nitrogen runoff, and reduced CO₂ emissions by increased carbon sequestration. With an opportunity for meaningful impact on every managed acre, FBSciences is committed to harnessing the power of nature to transform agriculture globally.

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Contact: joyce@agropages.com