This morning we received an email update from Vital Earth Resources, makers of the Vitazyme which we distribute — and we’re sharing it with you here.
Feb. 26, 2018 — One of the intriguing research projects sponsored by Vital Earth Resources is an ongoing study which we’ll call “glyphosate remediation” at the University of Missouri in cooperation with USDA/ARS. Growers who are rotating non-GMO crops onto fields formerly treated with glyphosate are correctly concerned about residual glyphosate’s inhibition of non-GMO crop roots. This can apparently be intensified if additional phosphate fertilizers are applied. However, Vitazyme, a biostimulant, shows evidence that its stimulus of soil organisms provides a buffer or breakdown benefit of reduced glyphosate impact.
The research is overseen by Dr. Robert Kremer, USDA/ARS scientist. His team years ago was the first to find that glyphosate translocated to soils has a substantial impact on shifting the soil microbial balance toward more fungal organisms.
Here’s a condensation of the Vitazyme report:
Dr. Roberk Kremer shows soybeans from a Vitazyme plot (on the right as you see it) and control plot. Photo at the University of Missouri research farm near Novelty, MO.
Further Studies With Glyphosate At the University of Missouri
University of Missouri studies on Vitazyme with and without glyphosate added to the foliar application continued to show excellent results, as have studies with corn and soybeans in past years. With corn in 2017, the product greatly reduced the damage done to populations of beneficial microbes in the rhizosphere from glyphosate additions, and greatly reduced the incidence of Fusarium infections in the root zone. Manganese oxidizing bacteria were reduced and manganese-reducing bacteria were increased with Vitazyme as well. These results were presented at the Third International Biostimulant Congress in Miami in November of 2017.
Nitrogen & Water Efficiency Improved
The final analysis of data from a South Dakota State University study conducted in 2016 for corn showed that Vitazyme not only increased the efficiency of nitrogen utilization, and increased the yield of corn by 21 bu/acre at a reduced nitrogen level, but also reduced water stress yield loss and nitrogen stress yield loss considerably at the 75 lb/acre nitrogen level. These stress reductions were statistically significant and ranged from an amazing 71 to 79%!
World Biostimulant Congress in Miami Attended by Vitazyme Delegation
The Third World Congress On the Use of Biostimulants in Agriculture was held November 27 to 30, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, Florida. About 1,200 participants from around the world converged on this acclaimed biennial event. Scott Hammer, president of Vital Earth Resources, Inc., the manufacturers of Vitazyme, and Dr. Paul Syltie, director of research for Vital Earth. The nearby photo also shows two Vitazyme distributors, Michael and Robert Hudak.
Papers were presented from researchers on biostimulants from many different countries including the United States, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Kenya, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.
A poster presentation by Dr. Robert Kremer from the University of Missouri, on Vitazyme as a remediator of glyphosate damage to roots and rhizosphere organisms of corn and soybeans, was an attraction for many of the participants.
(Note: Earlier, Renewable Farming published this poster along with a summary of data conclusions. You can see these at this link.)
Work on the 2017 Vitazyme Data Summaries Progresses Well
The year 2017 provided an excellent cross-section of research trials from around the world, which once again proved the efficacy of the Vitazyme program to perform extremely well under a wide array of soil and climatic conditions. For instance, a Master’s Degree investigation at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico, revealed that Vitazyme application greatly reduced the incidence of gray mold for strawberries, by 23% alone and by 46% when combined with a standard fungicide, while the yield was increased by 47 to 54% when combined with a fungicide. Moreover, the Brix level of the fruit was improved with Vitazyme, as was the fruit pressure, insuring better keeping quality in shipping and marketing.
Tobacco in Malawi Responds Extremely Well to Vitazyme at Reduced Nitrogen Levels
In Malawi, tobacco treated with and without Vitazyme, at three nitrogen levels (50, 75, and 100% of optimal), showed excellent responses in terms of total leaf yield, root mass, and stems, and especially at the 75% fertilizer level. Moreover, the quality of the leaves and their color were improved with Vitazyme. By improving both yield and quality, the benefit:cost ratio was increased to 55:1 at the 75% fertilizer level, revealing the ability of the program to improve fertilizer use efficiency even at reduced nitrogen levels.
Continuing Work in Brazil Promising research studies continue for Vitazyme in Brazil with the aid of business partners both within and outside the country. Vitazyme is now being marketing under private label, and is being used as part of a soybean seed coating along with an insecticide, a nematicide, and a fungicide. Since 2016, there have been over 70 field trials conducted that have resulted in an average yield increase of 5.2% for soybeans, the best results from any biostimulant that has been tried. Work is moving forward to expand the use of Brazilian specific versions of Vitazyme on corn, cereal grains, and other crops for both seed and foliar applications.
You can review the original newsletter as distributed by Vitazyme at this link.
Vitazyme has been marketed to farmers for more than 20 years. But we first learned the details about this biostimulant four years ago. We met the Vital Earth Resources director of research, Dr. Paul Syltie, who was visiting in our “back yard” — at the ACRES research farm, just a mile south of our own test farm. We read one of Paul’s books, “How Soils Work,” and began doing field trials with Vitazyme and WakeUP at our own farm, looking for synergism between Vitazyme and WakeUP. We found it. Later, we were permitted to become a distributor for Vitazyme. We’re continuing to cooperate in Vital Earth Resources field trials. Here’s a photo of Paul with a corn trial at our place in 2016.
