OMEX USA - 14

A scientific approach to Nitrogen can
increase potato crop yield
Nitrogen(N) is the most used and
least understood of all agricultural
nutritional inputs. It is well known
that typically only a third of applied
N is taken up by crops. However, the
effect that the form of N is delivered
in has a direct relation on how, and
which crop cells grow and develop,
is less understood, and offers great
potential to increase yields.
Nitrogen can be taken up as amine
(NH2), Ammonium (NH4) or nitrate
(NO3), but due to conversion by
soil bacteria, the vast majority of N
applied to crops is taken up as nitrate.
It is nitrogen uptake that dictates
how fast and where crops grow,
with nitrogen form being the main
contributor to growth hormone
synthesis in crops. Nitrates
encourage auxin production, favoring
vegetative growth (top growth of
shoots and leaves), while amine
nitrogen encourages cytokinin
production, favoring reproductive
growth, the growth we harvest.
Fig 1: Linking tuber yield to plant physiology.
leads to a reduction in tuber setting
and bulking of roots.
Scientists at the UK company
Levity CropScience have developed
LimiN, a technology that helps keep
nitrogen in the Amine form. Cell
Power®
SizeN®
is a product powered
by LimiN technology that provides
crops with bursts of Amine N, which
helps to direct growth towards root
tuber development.
Cell Power®
SizeN®
in the U.S.,
When we feed crops N, they mostly
take it up as nitrate, no matter what
form it is applied in. This means
plants mostly use their N to put on
top growth. In crops like potato,
farmers must manage conflict
between applying the N their
crop needs, and the crops natural
propensity to use that N to grow
foliage rather than root tubers. This
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helps crops invest more in root/
tuber growth.
On root/tuber crops there is a
constant battle between encouraging
growth by applying nitrogen, and
managing canopy growth as too much
N leads to excessive vegetative growth
at the expense of root /tuber growth
and crop yield. Farmers must feed
the crop to get growth, but growth is
disproportionately allocated by the
crop to the part not harvested.
This is an effect generated by nitrate
exposure, as nitrates encourage
production of the growth hormone
auxin, which makes crops allocate
growth to shoots rather than roots.
Using valuable energy at the expense
of reproductive parts. We see this
even when nitrogen is applied in other
forms like amine, as it changes after
application and is taken up as nitrate.
Cell Power® SizeN®
uses LimiN
technology that ensures that the
plant takes up the Amine nitrogen,
and the effects on crop physiology
are remarkable. Fig.1 shows how
conventional Amine N (Urea) increases
shoot growth but decreases root/
tuber development. However, when
Cell Power®
SizeN®
is applied using
root/tuber development increases.
The same form and quantity of N is
used but the plant grows in a different
place. This powerful effect achieved
by stabilizing amine with LimiN
technology can be used to increase
yield in root crops.
Fig1. Cell Power®
SizeN®
improves
root to shoot ratio compared to
conventional Amine N.
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OMEX USA

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