A new range of BioSolutions by UPL is now available to Australian tree crop growers looking for sustainable crop solutions to unlock their orchard’s potential.

“With today’s environmental and regulatory constraints on farming enterprises, our customers and consumers require modern solutions for problems encountered daily,” says Neil Innes, UPL Australia BioSolutions manager.

“Whilst new to Australia, our BioSolutions range has been helping overseas growers get the most from their orchards for some time, and we’re confident they’ll benefit orchard growers here.

“Gaxy and Calibra Carbo are two products with a great fit for almond and other nut tree crops, that when used in an integrated crop program, provide production and nut quality benefits.”

Gaxy is a super concentrated Ascophyllum nodosum filtered seaweed extract used to optimise production in crops. Due to patented extraction and filtration technology, Mr Innes said Gaxy provides better usability and compatibility than competing products.

“The UPL production process removes alginates, which under low pH, tend to swell or form a gel which can cause tank mixing and application challenges.

“We recommend Gaxy be applied in almond crops as a timed application, starting from dormancy break/raceme initiation through to nut maturation stages.

“Gaxy contains concentrated oligosaccharides, mannitols and other phytohormones, that increase root initiation and a tree’s phenological development.”

A second biostimulant, Calibra Carbo, is a foliar application for stress mitigation to enhance flower development and nut growth over the critical stress period of nut sizing and oil accumulation.

An equal combination of GoActiv filtrate and plant-derived selected amino acids, Mr Innes said Calibra Carbo is a ground-breaking foliar product delivering abiotic stress mitigation for orchard crops to maximise yields.

“GoActiv is a naturally sourced and hand harvested seaweed filtrate from the North-East Atlantic regions of France and Ireland. As a result of several decades of research and development, the GoActiv filtrate is obtained through a unique cold pressed, cell burst technology.

“This process preserves and concentrates the extract to ensure high quality and integrity of this concentrated extract, enabling it to be applied at low dose rates.

“Calibra Carbo is a natural growth stimulant that boosts protein synthesis and relieves environmental stress,” Mr Innes said.

“In combination, these products work to support crop stimulation, nutrition and protection. When used in conjunction with conventional products, they help improve crop resilience to abiotic (weather) and biotic (biological) stresses for improved yield and quality, adding value for growers in a sustainable way.

“With such a complex market of biological extract-based products in the Australian market nowadays, it seems that anything can be labelled a biostimulants,” Mr Innes said.

But what is a biostimulant?

“Plant biostimulants, when applied to a crop either through the soil/root interface or the leaf, stimulate natural processes to significantly improve nutrient uptake and efficiency, mitigate plant stress and enhance crop quality,” Mr Innes said.

“Growers can be reassured that our BioSolutions technology is the result of many years of research by Goëmar Laboratories in France (a UPL subsidiary) and has proven results across the globe since its inception in the early 1970’s.”

UPL, which was globally ranked by Sustainalytics as the highest performing top tier global crop-protection company for overall sustainability performance in 2021, launched the product range in Australia in June 2021.

The BioSolutions range is available from all good agricultural retailers.