Sustainable plant growth accelerator delivers 38% yield in broccoli trial

February 11th, 2015

2014 field demonstration report by Clemson University’s Sustainable Agriculture Program good news for Inocucor

Agriculture biotech company Inocucor Technologies Inc., said Tuesday Packman Broccoli treated with its proprietary biological plant accelerator, Garden Solution, out-yielded untreated broccoli by 38 percent in a field study conducted last fall by Clemson University’s Sustainable Agriculture Program.

Montreal-based Inocucor, a maker of OMRI-approved, organic soil, seed and plant growth accelerators, said Clemson is one of the first U.S. academic institutions to conduct field tests of its Garden Solution, a fermented brew of naturally occurring beneficial yeasts and bacteria that acts as a natural growth optimizer for plants and enriches soil, approved for use in 23 states.

“The Student Organic Farm at Clemson is a valuable resource for us to evaluate and demonstrate farming methods that are approved for certified organic production, including microbial solutions to enhance soil quality and plant health,” said Dr. Geoff Zehnder, coordinator of Clemson’s Sustainable Agriculture Program. “The results of this study indicated that Garden Solution enhanced early growth of broccoli compared to untreated plants, and that the early growth promotion resulted in an increase in yield.”

In the study, Zehnder’s students used a dilution of Garden Solution to treat broccoli seedlings that had been fertilized with cottonseed meal. They also applied a diluted Garden Solution soil drench to the base of the plant immediately after transplanting in the field.

Zehnder said his group at Clemson plans to further validate these findings by conducting additional field experiments in 2015. Clemson’s study can be viewed here.

The study is part of a program measuring yields in a selection of field broccoli cultivars that is underway at Inocucor.