With an eye toward product management on a global scale, Azotic North America’s Global Product Manager Tom Tregunno shares that exciting things are on the horizon, not only for Azotic but for the entire biological sector and what can be delivered to a farmer’s bottom line.
Tregunno says that while the space is rapidly growing, differentiators will ultimately be product performance, partnership and the human capital to support.
“Our team’s foundation is at the heart of agriculture with the science and research to support and improve product performance. We recognize that partnerships with retailers, processors and farmers are the future for getting this technology on more acres to make a bigger impact,” he says.
The bacteria that fuel Envita, Azotic North America’s flagship product, was discovered in the 1980s. In 2012, the Azotic North America mission of finding a way to bring the technology to market, and into the arsenal of tools available to farmers, came to fruition.
Today, Envita serves agriculture as a crop-agnostic solution to plant-driven nitrogen management that ensures a season-long supply of the macronutrient. Originally researched on corn, over the past three years Envita has found outstanding success in potatoes. The success has helped farmers to consistently achieve incredible yields with maintaining processor specifications.
Envita’s naturally occurring food-grade bacteria can fix atmospheric nitrogen right inside the cells of both the leaves and the roots of plants – a benefit that Tregunno says fills the nitrogen gap by supplementing an alternative form of nitrogen throughout the plant.
“We’ve been able to colonize every commercial crop we’ve tested. This product is very unique, and the key difference with Envita is how it establishes itself inside cells, making it less susceptible to soil conditions. Envita provides systemic nitrogen fixation that supplies nitrogen to almost every cell throughout the plant,” he says. “And potatoes have been one of the most consistent crops in our trials for the past three years. Our average increase in yield on potatoes is 3,200 rate an acre. It’s just a tremendous response.”
Tregunno says that the yields are so incredible his team is hesitant to share the results; however, the numbers continue to be consistent across North America, even in the sandier soils of the Pacific Northwest. What’s more, processors are excited about the results they are seeing—a more consistent product.
“When we started trials in potatoes, we knew that we had successful colonization and great results from small plot work, but that doesn’t always translate when acres are trialed on a broader scale. We also knew that we needed processor approval because yield didn’t matter if we couldn’t meet processor specifications. So that’s where we started, with the processors,” Tregunno says, adding that Envita is checking the boxes processors are looking for within the Russet potato market. “Sizing and starch content are two big objectives for processors and Envita is performing incredibly well there.”
Now in its third year of trials, Envita’s average yield response on potatoes has been a consistent 32 cwt/acre with either in-furrow or foliar application prior to row closure.
Envita is readily available for the 2023 planting and can be purchased through your local retailer.
For more information, visit www.azotic-na.com.