CataPult Power Inoculum for legumes and other crops. For technical questions contact Rob Bower

Transcription

1 CataPult Power Inoculum for legumes and other crops For technical questions contact Rob Bower

2 What is CataPult TM and what does it do? CataPult Power Inoculum is an inoculum that combines a high-grade VAM (vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae) with two compatible species of Bacillus microbes. Access bound P in phosphorous binding soils Capture P, N, Zn and other nutrients more efficiently Allow high yields with reduced rates of DAP or MAP Increase nodulation Increase early root growth and nutrient capturing secondary root development Increase efficiency of water capture and increase tolerance of dry spells Increase healthy soil microflora and build better soil structure

3 How does CataPult TM work? CataPult Power Inoculum was developed by testing to find the optimum combination of a high-grade VAM (vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae) and Bacillus microbe species. CataPult LiquidAPP produces much improved P nutrition at lower rates of P fertiliser application. This is how it works: The Bacillus species in CataPult are P solubilising microbes. They colonise the root surfaces and the soil close to the roots and release compounds that solubilise bound P. Many soils have a large amount of P that is unavailable to crops as it is tightly bound to soil particles. CataPult helps crops access this bank of P by increasing its availability. That is the RELEASE part of CataPult technology. VAM colonise into the roots and send out a huge network of hyphae (filaments) that extend out well beyond the root hair zone. These hyphae collect P and N plus Ca, Mg, Zn and other micronutrients and deliver them back into the plant. That is particularly important for nutrients like P that don t move through the soil readily. That s the CATCH part of the CataPult technology. So CataPult TM is a 2-part RELEASE & CATCH TECHNOLOGY TM that increases the efficiency of DAP and MAP use in crops. This allows higher yields with lower fertiliser rates. The Bacillus microbes also produce compounds that increase root growth, especially in secondary root development. This helps the crop grow roots early and gets crops off to a fast start. Early nutrition, particularly P, is important in setting up good yields. Strong early root growth also provides the capacity for the establishing crop to keep growing through early dry spells. VAM are very effective in increasing resilience to water stress as they access water from deep in the profile and from soil volumes that aren t fully occupied by roots. The Bacillus species are very effective in promoting nodulation and increasing the vigour of nodules in fixing N for legumes. These effects combine to provide legumes with improved nutritional status and tolerance to water stress.

4 How to use CataPult TM? What crops? CataPult is used in all legumes and also cereals, tree and vine crops and vegetables. It is not used in canola. Legumes that respond well to CataPult LiquidAPP include pasture species lucerne, clovers etc, plus soybean, peanuts, mung beans, fava beans, peas etc. What fertiliser program? Cut the rate of MAP, DAP or superphosphate by 25 50%. If soils are strongly P binding make a 25% cut in P fertiliser. VAM work best in a slightly lower P environment. Maintain K and micronutrient levels at standard rates. How to apply CataPult? Apply at planting or soon after for annual crops. Mix with Rhizobium inoculum and apply to the seed Liquid inject at planting or soon after By boom spray using enough water to wash in the inoculum By centre pivot or other similar system For planting tree or vines crops make a tank mix at the correct concentration to allow L per plant into the root ball. Use 1 ha inoculum to dose 1 ha of plantings. For high value crops or very fast growing vegetable crops apply CataPult at 2 3 times standard rates For pastures containing a legume mix CataPult will benefit both the grasses and the legumes. Legumes will nodulate better and compete more strongly. In low intensity pastures apply once in spring or any time through the growing season. In high intensity pastures apply at the start of the main growing season and again before the growing season ends to maintain late season growth.

5 On-farm example of CataPult in peanut Wee Waa, NSW, farmer Matt Ciesolka used CataPult on his peanut crop for the season. His usual pre-plant was 200 kg/ha DAP and this was reduced to 80 kg/ha plus CataPult Prill (a granular formulation, now discontinued in favour of CataPult Power Inoculum) for the season. CataPult was mixed in at the standard prill rate of 1.75 kg/ha with 10 kg /ha potash and mixed into the pre-plant application. The cv was Menzies and the crop was harvested late March 2014 after a very hot dry season. Yield was 6.7 T/ha NIS. Matt s comments were: That was an excellent yield for that variety in a very hot dry season The amount of nodulation was noticeably higher than usual Using the prill form of CataPult worked fine but next season he will probably mix the CataPult Power Inoculum with his Rhizobium inoculum and apply it by spray injection onto the seed rows after planting. He uses this method to reduce effects of seed coated fungicides on his standard inoculum.

6 Sorghum root growth trial Sorghum pot trial to examine root growth effects Tested CataPult and different combinations of VAM plus Bacillus spp. Treatments applied at planting Root mass and shoots photographed at 24 d post-plant Roots ranked (1 5) against 5 examples Treat No Root Rating Treatment None V + N CataPult V + BC V + BG V V = VAM; V + N = CataPult; N, BC and BG are Bacillus combinations in trials. In the following two slides note: the overall increase in root mass the increase in secondary root density the consistency in the root development in T2 plants

7 Sorghum root ranking (1 5) examples These five root masses were used to rank root masses on a 1 5 scale. 4 5

8 T1 (control) v T2 (CataPult)