FULL-SPECTRUM MICROBES

Since agriculture’s beginnings thousands of years ago, growers have struggled to find ways to increase crop yield. The advent of industrial agriculture over the last two centuries has resulted in dramatic developments in intensive farming techniques including the use of modern plant cultivars, mechanization, additives such as fertilizers and pesticides, crop rotation and irrigation. While these techniques have resulted in enormous increases in crop yield and range, they also have their costs, limits, and detrimental consequences such as soil depletion, erosion, and widespread outbreaks of plant disease.

Research has clearly demonstrated the importance of a healthy microbial community in the soil, particularly in the soil surrounding plant roots, called the rhizosphere, for plant growth. This has led to the development of a new area for agricultural advancement and investment in the use of natural microbial soil inoculants that can result in significant improvements in crop yield and plant and soil health. The use of natural microbial inoculants can benefit growers in several ways including 1) the ability to assist the plant in nutrient uptake; 2) the displacement of harmful soil life that may be present; and 3) to help mitigate/minimize plant reaction to stress such as drought or disease.