Soil Health and Valent Pt 2
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. No matter what you grow, soil health is where it all starts for the health and productivity of your crop. Valent USA is making it their mission to help you improve the soil health in your fields and orchards.
Valent’s Mike Riffle says their Mycorrhizal fungi works WITH the plant …
RIFFLE … “So, what happens is, is that the plant supplies carbon to the fungi and the fungi supply water and nutrients to the plant, so it’s a true symbiosis.”
So, if I’m reading you right, it’s NATURAL …
RIFFLE … “You’re reading it exactly right, and that’s what happens. Out in the forest, scientists know about these Mycorrhizal associations. They call it maybe like the “World Wood Web” or something like that. It’s kind of a joke on the symbiosis.”
And, Riffle says this is true with most plants …
RIFFLE … “About 95% of the plants on the earth are Mycorrhizal, meaning that they can form these relationships with Mycorrhizae. So, it’s been happening for a long, long time. It’s just, say, in the last 15 to 20 years that scientists are understanding how to work with Mycorrhizal associations with crop plants.”
Riffle says it works from the outset …
RIFFLE … “If we can inoculate crop plants when we plant them, how can we take advantage of this beneficial symbiosis.”
Listen tomorrow for more on Valent’s Mycorrhizal fungi and how they try and educate us about this natural system.
