Ficosterra’s Cystium-k® biostimulant surprises in barley trials

Successful completion of trials with the biostimulant cystium-k® in dryland barley

The image shows barely without treatment on the left. It is separated by a thin line that marks the area treated with the biostimulant cystium-k, a more intense green can be seen as if the heat didn’t affect the crop as much.

The Campo CyL magazine has quoted the results of the last cereal campaign in Castilla y León.

Under the headline: “The cereal is saved from disaster, but do the numbers come out?”, they analyze province by province the results obtained in a bad rainy season, which has left much lower productivity than the previous season.

However, today we want to share the data that we obtained in our first trial on rain-fed barley, in the province of Burgos, where we measured the effectiveness of the biostimulant cystium-k®, a pure extract of the seaweed Macrocystis pyrifera that we collect in the waters of the Pacific Ocean:

The information provided by these numbers is beyond doubt:

The area treated with the biostimulant cystium-k® improves not only the productivity of the crop (+280kgs/hectare). We have also seen that each crop’s weight, moisture, and protein are slightly ahead of the area that has not received the biostimulant treatment.

One more benefit, not insignificant for the farmer’s pocket, must be mentioned. At the time of publishing, Gregorio has not yet received payment for the grain from him, but he affirms that by calculating with what he was paid the previous year he will earn around €70 / ha (after expenses).

This farmer from Páramo del Arroyo (Burgos) will receive €4,200 more this year than last season, a not insignificant economic return considering the times.

Even so, the farmer tells us that, if it had rained enough, the results would have been much more striking, since the plants would have more easily absorbed all the aids that he usually provides, including, in this case, those brought by the biostimulant cystium-k® from Ficosterra.

He tells us: “this is already reason enough to want to repeat the test in the next season and even more knowing that all this does not contaminate my field”.

How does the cystium-k® biostimulant work and what is its differential value?

We have already seen what the results have been after the application of only 2lts/ha. of cystium-k® in dryland barley.

Below we will explain the main characteristics of this seaweed extract biostimulant and how it acts on the crop.

But first, we want to look back on a little about the history of the use of seaweed as a natural fertilizer for crops, a common practice since the 1st century (AD) in coastal areas.

• Algae: a natural source of nutrients since Roman times

The first documentation on the use of algae as a natural fertilizer for crops belongs to the Roman agronomist Columella, dedicated to agriculture in the 40s (AD) in the Betic province of the Italian peninsula. Thanks to this restless farmer we have the most comprehensive and documented repertoire of Roman agriculture.

Later, in the fourteenth century, we find the first records of the collection of algae from arribazón (those that reach the sand on the beaches) on the coasts of Ireland and France for use in agriculture. They were collected and transported manually to the interior to let them dry and then burn them to produce Potassium, Phosphorus, and Nitrogen. These ashes were thrown on crops to be used as a natural fertilizer.

It was not until the 18th century that carts and horses began to be used to speed up this transfer. In the 19th century, small fishing boats began to be used to collect larger amounts of algae, following the same procedure used until then: letting them dry and burning them to obtain NPK naturally to provide for the surrounding crops.

• The first biostimulant: an extract of algae of the genus Ascophyllum

In the middle of the 20th century, the British Tony Stephenson managed to obtain the first liquid extract of algae of the Ascophyllum genus, which he packaged in a commercial format known as Maxicrop, which is good for indoor crops.

Tony Stephenson used algae of the Ascophyllum genus because they were the closest he had to his place of residence. Perhaps this is why Ascophillum algae are one of the algae with the longest commercial history. Possibly it was not its agronomic value that led Mr. Stephenson to manufacture the first liquid algae extract (what we now call a biostimulant), but the closeness and easy access of the researcher to this genus of algae.

• Cystium-k: the first biostimulant from Macrocystis pyrifera algae extract

Macrocystis pyrifera algae belong to the Laminariaceae family of algae. It lives mainly along the coasts of the American Pacific, forming dense forests up to 60 meters tall.

Macrocystis is considered the largest algae in the world. It reaches average heights of 30-40 meters and has a growth rate of around 20-30 cm/day.

The habitat in which it develops is characterized by being one of the richest in the Ocean, with a high concentration of nutrients and numerous active ingredients provided by the multitude of animal and plant species with which it lives.

Macrocystis has a great capacity to assimilate nutrients from its surroundings. It stores them in its basal part and uses them on demand, which allows it to cope with any type of stress that comes its way, whether abiotic or derived from the action of living beings that share its space.

These active ingredients and nutrients distinguish it with a high differential value compared to the rest of the algae that are used in the agronomic market.

It is the only seaweed plant that has a lifespan of about seven years, which is why it is called “perennial seaweed”. Algae such as Ascophyllum or Eckonia have an average lifespan of one to two years.

The Cystium Technology that Ficosterra has developed is based on this differential value provided by the Macrocystis pyrifera algae and a system for extracting active ingredients of high agronomic value that manages to provide the crop with a high content of alginates and elicitors, which provide the plant with the ability to defend against diseases (pests, bacteria, pathogens) or stress phenomena (extreme hot or cold temperatures; sudden changes in temperature, drought, agrochemical management, etc.)

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Cystium technology is characterized by using an exclusive extraction method that guarantees the maximum richness and effectiveness of the active ingredients in the algae. It is a proprietary extraction based on the extraction methods of the food and pharmaceutical industry that combines conventional methods with less aggressive systems that manage to extract the active ingredients and nutrients that most benefit the crops without damaging the algae.

• How does cystium-k® work in the crop?

Cystium-k® has been able to stimulate the natural physiological processes of the plant whose main effects affect the improvement of the crop, both in productivity and in the rest of the parameters measured.

How do you get it?

• Its root application helps to better absorb the nutrient and to balance the positive microbiota of the soil.

• It has also contributed to increasing the root system of the plant, which has facilitated the efficiency in the absorption of nutrients and rainwater that may have fallen during its growth.

• The biostimulant cystium-k® has been able to improve the growth and nutritional quality of the crop, its shoots and roots, early flowering, yield, fruit uniformity, coloration, and an increase in antioxidants.

• It has shown us that it has been the best ally against the abiotic stress of last summer (high temperatures)

All these benefits that we have been able to verify in the small town of Páramo del Arroyo are the same that we have also seen in high-value crops. The difference lies in the percentage of productivity, being significantly higher in irrigated crops (between 8-15%, depending on the crop), where the abundance of water has contributed to faster and more efficient absorption of nutrients.

The production of conventional agriculture has been focused for many years on maximizing production yields to the detriment, as we have seen on many occasions, of qualitative parameters.

We already know that this production model has limits and serious consequences for the environment, which unfortunately we are all beginning to discover first-hand.

Today’s agriculture is forced to seek new sustainable and environmentally friendly production systems that are capable of responding to increasingly high demand for food in line with population growth.

In this new production model, organic products and biostimulants play a fundamental role as they work directly on these two key aspects for obtaining a good harvest: increased productivity and quality of the harvest.

Thanks to the information obtained in the Success Stories of the tests carried out with Ficosterra biostimulants, we have reason to think that these inputs today constitute a fundamental tool for new agriculture, where the reduction of conventional fertilization goes hand in hand with improving the efficiency of soils and crop productivity.

The test that we have recently carried out in the province of Burgos shows us that the application of Ficosterra’s cystium-k® biostimulant doesn’t only have productive results in irrigated crops. A rainfed crop has also had them, something very positive and necessary for this is the type of production that is mostly used worldwide.

Ficosterra’s next challenge in dry land

Our farmer from Burgos, Gregorio, is well aware of the results of the first trials we have carried out on broccoli as part of the international trials of the United Nations for Development in Mexico and Morocco, where we have managed to reduce conventional fertilization by 30% and increase crop productivity by 20%.

This restless farmer from Burgos wants to check in his next season if he can also save a little money on fertilizers, reduce pollution in his town and not reduce his production, using Ficosterra’s algae extract biostimulants.

Will we be able to maintain productivity, individual weight, protein, and moisture?

There are only 11 months left before we know all the details 🙂

At Ficosterra we have reason to send, once again, a message of hope and trust again in the benefits provided by seaweed biostimulants also in extensive crops, where we have been able to verify that they are capable of increasing their productivity, obtaining greater economic returns for the farmer and all this without the need to pollute the environment.

As we say in Ficosterra:

“Never has a benefit been so sustainable.”