Healthy Soil Delivers up to 19% Improvement to Broccoli Yield

It goes without saying that healthy soil is required in order to produce high-quality broccoli. The right balance of microbes and available nutrients in the soil supports root vigor, improves drought tolerance, optimizes head weight, and extends the shelf life of broccoli and other vegetables.

What is also becoming increasingly apparent from studies of soil quality is just how critical it is in increasing crop yield. In broccoli in particular, the delivery of microalgae-based products in drench applications has been shown to raise yields by as much as 19%—equivalent to an increase of up to 5,300 lbs per acre—as compared to standard grower practice. Heliae^® Agriculture achieved that boost in field trials with a 2 quart/acre application of its PhycoTerra^® soil amendment. This application also increased cumulative mean head weight by up to 16% over a grower standard program.

A number of factors contribute to these remarkable results, including that PhycoTerra^® improves soil water-holding capacity, increases soil protein content, enhances soil microbe growth, improves soil aggregation, and reduces dissolved solids run-off. As a result, the product not only helps support your soil health today, it can also be the cornerstone of sustainable and regenerative agriculture, delivering benefits at both ends of the field lifecycle. In younger acreage, the product’s microalgae support crop development. In older fields, the increased nutrient bioavailability and greater water retention rejuvenate the soil.

For broccoli growers, improvements in crop vigor and abundance can provide both a competitive advantage in crowded markets and greater return on investment (ROI) for the acreage managed, with growers seeing up to a 147:1 return on their investment. A carefully developed and rigorously tested product like PhycoTerra^® that is easy to apply and proven effective can be the key to not only supporting optimal plant development, but growing the business as well.

To learn more about Heliae^® Agriculture and PhycoTerra^®, please visit phycoterra.com/broccoli or call (800) 998-6536.