A Winnipeg seed company is touting the use of rhizobacteria to enhance canola growth as a breakthrough for that crop.
Brett-Young Seeds has received registration for its BioBoost canola seed inoculant. Which is plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria that occur naturally in the soil.
“It’s a big step forward,” said RenŽ Mabon, a canola product specialist with Brett-Young. “It’s, I think, the first bacterial inoculant on canola. It’s a new direction in crop inputs. You’re looking at using live products to enhance production and better manage that micro-ecosystem in the soil.”
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BioBoost is similar to using nitrogen-fixing bacteria in pulse crops, said Lloyd Dyck, Brett-Young’s chief executive officer.
Testing demonstrated that yields improved an average of eight percent in canola crops inoculated with the rhizobacteria compared to those that were not, according to a company News release
news. No negative effects on the crop were found.
“They’re naturally occurring bacteria that were isolated from soils and roots from Western Canada,” Mabon said.
“What you’re doing is artificially increasing the population by inoculating the seed. But because they’re natural, they quickly go back to a natural balance. Our impression and the results so far seem to imply that you need to apply them on an annual basis.”
Brett-Young Seeds developed BioBoost over a three-year period with $450,000 in support from the Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative, also known as ARDI.
Mabon said BioBoost should be commercially available to growers in time for the 2006 crop and will be applied as an on-farm seed treatment.
Dyck predicted that inoculants will eventually become routine in canola production, “and we are delighted to be the first in Canada to introduce it.”
Brett-Young Seeds researches, develops, processes and markets canola, forage and grass seed.
Dyck described BioBoost as the first of many innovations coming from the company’s expanded research and development efforts. Two years ago it opened a 860 sq. metre research and development facility in Winnipeg to provide more greenhouse and laboratory space. Ten research and development employees at Brett-Young’s facilities work on plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and canola hybrids.
