The African Carbon Alliance
HOW GROWPRO WORKS
We provide the soil with free-living microbes, some of which contain symbiotic manners. Microbes with symbiotic manners work closely at root level to help the crop with nutrient uptake. Once applied to the soil, the microbial network introduced by GrowPro naturally multiplies and increases the health of the soil and plant, creating deeper and denser root systems. By strengthening the health of the soil and helping the plant take in more nutrients, we increase growth and development without the need for chemical inputs, leading to sustainable farming.
1.
GrowPro Microbes are applied to the soil and begin multiplying, forming colonies around the root network. The microbes multiply in and around the roots, performing their natural functions, including the mineralization of nutrients and nitrogen fixation.
3.
2.
Plant roots hunt for food but the nutrients in their natural state are inaccessible as they are not in a soluble form. Our microbes convert these nutrients in to an accessible form for the plants, increasing nutrient availability in the soil and uptake to the plant. This creates a healthier plant with a stronger, deeper and denser root system.
4.
Our microbes help the extended roots find moisture from much deeper underground, allowing plants to receive more water and therefore survive and grow through times of drought, accessing nature's irrigation.
5.
Our microbial network creates a natural barrier from disease causing organisms and viruses, increasing the natural health of the plant.
6.
The activity of the microbes creates an increase in soil organic matter, as their presence encourages beneficial insects such as earthworms to populate the soil. When the organisms and roots eventually die, they decompose and create organic matter, increasing the nutrients in the soil available to the microbes, creating the cycle of life that plants thrive on.
This activity leads to the creation of tunnels, crevices and pathways which is beneficial for the increase in rainfall absorption within the soil.
7.
This overall increase in activity leads to a healthy soil, full of rich nutrients, soil organic matter and a microbial network which works with the plant to create a harmonious organic relationship.
1. PLANT NUTRIENTS
Plants are complex organisms that require many different forms of nutrients. There are 17 nutrients that are essential for plant health. The primary macronutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium,) macronutrients derived from air and water (Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen), secondary macronutrients (Magnesium, Sulfur, Calcium,) and micro-nutrients (Boron, Chlorine, Manganese, Iron, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Molybdenum) are all nutrients needed for optimal growth and a healthy plant. It’s all about the biology of the soil and here is why it is so important.
1A. PRIMARY MACRONUTRIENTS
Nitrogen (N) is important for plants and other living things. It plays a crucial role in plant growth and is responsible for chlorophyll synthesis and in the process needed to make protein. Most nitrogen is unavailable to plants because it is in a gas state in the atmosphere.
GrowPro contains two strains of microorganisms which help provide more nitrogen to plants through Biological Nitrogen Fixation. This is the process of taking unusable nitrogen from the air and converting it into organic compounds that plants and organisms can use.
Phosphorus (P) is known to play a part in photosynthesis, transfer, respiration, cell division, enlargement, and energy storage. It boosts early root information and growth. Phosphorus helps improve the quality of fruits, vegetables, and grains. It plays a vital role for seeds, increases water-use efficiency, and accelerates maturity. Finally, Phosphorus helps plants against the harsh winter conditions.
GrowPro contains microorganisms which help plants receive the amount of phosphorus they need to thrive through Phosphate Solubilization, which is the process of solubilizing bound phosphate in the soil and making it available for uptake by plants.
Potassium (K) is another essential nutrient that plants need in order to be healthy. It is vital to photosynthesis, protein synthesis and many other plant functions. Potassium builds cellulose and helps translocate sugars and starches. It also has a major impact on the plants size, shape, colour, taste and other quality related measurements. Having enough potassium can also increase root growth and increase drought resistance.
GrowPro contains microorganisms which Solubilize Potassium, which is the process of breaking down potassium and making it available to plants, making it easier for plants to absorb it.
1B. MACRONUTRIENTS (DERIVED FROM AIR & WATER)
Hydrogen (H) is an important compound for plants and is one of three that make up a majority of the plant. Hydrogen is needed in order to complete biochemical reactions. Hydrogen is mostly derived from water which means most hydrogen that a plant comes into contact with should be soluble so the plant can use it right away.
Carbon (C) is a crucial compound needed for plant growth and is one of three compounds that make up the majority of plant mass. Plants take CO2 from the air and use the carbon from it for energy. This energy is then used to build essential biological compounds such as carbohydrates and proteins.
GrowPro helps build carbon in the soil through carbon sequestration, which is the process of taking CO2 from the air and converting it into a solid state for long term storage. This creates more organic matter and carbon in the soil which causes microbes to begin a mineralization process and transition all carbon sources into plant available fertilization such as nitrate nitrogen.
Oxygen (O) is an important compound needed in plants and is one of three compounds that make up the majority of plant mass. Oxygen is responsible for cellular respiration in plants. Plants get oxygen by breaking down CO2 during photosynthesis and releasing the majority of it as byproduct, while keeping a small portion for future energy.
GrowPro helps increase the amount of oxygen available to plants through carbon sequestration, which stores CO2 in the soil until it is needed.
1C. MACRONUTRIENTS (SECONDARY & TERTIARY)
Magnesium (Mg) is in every molecule of chlorophyll which means it is actively involved in photosynthesis. It also aids in phosphate metabolism, plant respiration and the activation of many enzyme systems. Magnesium is needed to capture the sun’s energy for growth and production through photosynthesis.
Like many other nutrients, most magnesium is not available for plants. GrowPro helps take this unusable magnesium and convert it into a compound that plants can absorb.
Sulfur (S) is an important nutrient that plants receive through soil, but can also enter plant leaves as dioxide. Sulfur is needed for synthesis of certain amino acids and proteins, photosynthesis, seed production, nitrogen fixation and is also useful for winter crop hardiness.
Most sulfur in the soil is tied up in organic matter and cannot be absorbed by plants. GrowPro helps break up this matter and convert the sulfur in the organic matter into a compound that is easy for plants to absorb and use.
Calcium (Ca) is an important nutrient for plants because it is essential for their structure. Plants need calcium to develop strong cell walls, enabling them to stand upright and be better protected. Calcium also helps with cellular signalling which is a biological process critical to a plants healthy development. Deficiency in calcium can have negative effects on plant growth.
Most calcium compounds found in the soil are insoluble and plants can’t use them. GrowPro helps by taking the insoluble calcium and turning it into a soluble compound that plants can use.
1D. MICRO-NUTRIENTS
Boron (B) is vital to plant health because it plays a key role in forming and strengthening cell walls. Boron also has an impact on the uptake of potassium and phosphorus, whilst deficiency in Boron affects the cell walls and reproductive organs of plants. Severe deficiency can lead to stunted growth and death of growth tissue.
GrowPro helps to ensure any insoluble Boron is broke down and made into a soluble matter that plants can absorb.
Chlorine (Cl) has a number of benefits for plant growth and is an essential nutrient for plants. It plays a key role along with potassium in the proper function of the plants stomatal openings. This allows plants to control their internal water balance. Chloride (Chloride element that plants absorb) also helps with the hydrolysis process in photosynthesis.
Most chloride found in soil is soluble, but GrowPro helps ensure that any chloride which is not soluble can be made accessible to plants.
Manganese (Mn) is used in plants as a major factor to various systems including photosynthesis, respiration and nitrogen assimilation. It is also involved in the process for pollen tube growth, pollen germination and resistance to root pathogens. Deficiency in Manganese can stunt growth, cause yellow leaves and cause sunken spots to appear.
GrowPro helps break down Manganese in the soil, making it available for plants to take in.
Iron (Fe) is essential for plant growth and food production and is a key nutrient needed for energy transfer, nitrogen reduction and fixation and lignin formation. Plants also need iron in order to move oxygen through their system and keep their leaves green. Deficiency in iron can cause yellow leaves with green veins also known as chlorosis.
GrowPro help plants receive the nutrients needed by getting iron from the soil and making is accessible to plants.
Nickel (Ni) is a component of some plant enzymes, most notably urease, which metabolizes urea nitrogen into useable ammonia within the plant. Without nickel, toxic levels of urea can accumulate within the tissue forming necrotic legions on the leaf tips. In this case, nickel deficiency causes urea toxicity. Nickel is also used as a catalyst in enzymes used to help legumes fix nitrogen.
Copper (Cu) is used to activate enzymes in plants that are involved in lignin synthesis and it is also essential for many other enzyme systems. Copper is used in photosynthesis and also serves to intensify flavour and colour in vegetables and colour in flowers. Deficiency in Copper can cause new leaves to grow smaller, lose their sheen and eventually wilt.
GrowPro helps provide copper to plants by finding and creating copper compounds that are usable by plants.
Zinc (Zn) is used to activate enzymes that are responsible for the synthesis of certain proteins. It is also used in the conversion of starches to sugars, the formation of chlorophyll and some carbohydrates, to help withstand cold temperatures and helps in the formation of auxins which help with growth regulation and stem elongation. Deficiency in Zinc leads to chlorosis and new leaves are often cupped upward or distorted.
GrowPro help plants get the amount of Zinc they need by breaking down organic matter that contains Zinc and making it available for plants to use.
Molybdenum (Mo) is an important nutrient that is used in two enzymes that convert nitrate into nitrite and then into ammonia before it is used to synthesize amino acids throughout the plant. Plants also use Molybdenum to convert inorganic phosphorus into organic forms and by symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria in legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen.
GrowPro helps by turning Molybdenum into a soluble form that plants can use.
2. What Does GrowPro Contain?
The following active microbes are present in GrowPro:
1. Biological Nitrogen Fixation (the two strains support each other):
Azotobacter chroococcum spp
Free living microbes which produce three enzymes (catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase) to "neutralise" reactive oxygen species. It also forms the dark-brown, water-soluble pigment melanin at high levels of metabolism during the fixation of nitrogen, which is thought to protect the nitrogenase system from oxygen.
Azospirillum brasilense spp
Free living microbes with symbiotic manners, they have the ability to affect the growth of numerous agricultural crops worldwide through the excretion of various hormones and the bacteria’s ability of nitrogen fixation. They colonize the surface of plant roots through a two step process: attachment and anchoring. A glycoprotein is used for attachment and an unidentified polysachharide is used to anchor the bacterium to the plant root hair.
2. Phosphate Solubilization:
Bacillus megaterium
Secretes acid phosphatases and phytases, which are helpful to convert an insoluble form of phosphate into a soluble form that can be taken up by the roots.
3. Potash Mobilization:
Frateuria aurantia
These microbes are responsible for the movement of potassium elements in the soil and plants for easy transportation of other nutrients, improving the health and vigor of the plant.
The following fungi are present in GrowPro:
1. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza
Contains spores and fragments of mycorrhizal fungle filaments. They are obligate saprophytic in nature and require living hosts to survive. They penetrate in to the plant cells of roots and produce balloon like vesicles. The structure of arbuscules increase the contact surface between the hyphal and cell cytoplasm to facilitate the transfer of nutrients between them. They enhance water, phosphorus and micro-nutrient uptake as well as helping to increase beneficial micro-organisms in the rhizosphere.
They also:
• Improve soil structure and quality.
• Make feeder roots more resistant to infection by soil borne pathogens.
• Enhance seedling survival.
• Enhance tolerance to soil stresses like high salt level, heavy metal, toxicity and drought.
• Conserve soil moisture thereby surviving soil moisture in a water deficient time.