In the UK, Azotic Technologies has laucnhed its natural nitrogen fixing technology, Envita, in the US market. Envita is derived from a naturally occurring food grade bacteria (Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus) that enables plants to fix nitrogen from the air and replace up to 50 per cent of their nitrogen needs as an alternative to fertiliser. It is environmentally-friendly, cost-reducing and also proven to increase crop yields.
After positive field trial results on maize, soybean and rice, Envita is now commercially available to growers in 26 US States. In 2018, farm scale trials across 11 states validated the previous 6 years of research with encouraging results and feedback from growers.
Azotic has also carried out a series of successful rice trials in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. In three Vietnamese rice trials the response was a mean average 20% (825 kg/ha) yield increase across all the field trials (2017). Two rice trials were carried out in Thailand and two in the Philippines in 2018. Overall on the N-Fix treated plots yields were significantly higher than the untreated at every fertiliser N level tested with the N-Fix treated plots yielding 17% (645 kg/ha) more than the untreated. At 50% of the recommended N fertiliser application a substantial 29% (1t/ha) increase was seen. Further rice trials are being carried out in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
Azotic’s N-Fix/Envita technology is applied to plants via the seed creating a symbiotic relationship within the plant. This enables the plant create its own source of nitrogen thus reducing dependency on nitrogen fertilisers. The seeds are treated with a liquid inoculant before planting and the bacteria are incorporated into a plant’s cells via the seed to boost its ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere.