Grace Breeding (TASE: GRAC), a forward-thinking agrotech company developing biological-based products, announces the results of a field test that found its proprietary Wide Defense System (WDS) biostimulant formula improves industrial tomato yield by an additional 17 percent. The field trial showed its WDS formula boosts the growth of the tomato root system and improves nutrient absorption from the soil, improving yield and extending the shelf life of agricultural produce.
Imagine chips without salsa or pasta without marinara sauce, a stark reality facing many Americans in the upcoming months. As droughts ravage California, home to 90 percent of domestic tomatoes, farmers have been forced to let their tomato crops dehydrate. The impending tomato shortage creates a mass shortage of tomato-based products, including ketchup and spaghetti sauce, and could raise prices by 6 percent, as reported by Bloomberg.
Grace Breeding tackles the tomato shortage head-on with its WDS formula that improves tomato yield. The use of WDS helps farmers boost growth for industrial tomatoes in different plots amid various climate stress conditions. The WDS industrial tomato trial was carried out in Israel, supervised by Lycored, a subsidiary of Adama, an Israeli company that specializes in the production of lycopene from tomatoes for the food industry and food additives. The formulation was tested on the cultivation of industrial tomatoes on a land plot in a semi-arid climate similar to California's climate, which included harsh weather conditions such as drought and record heat. Grace Breeding applied its WDS via the irrigation system once, two days after transplanting the tomatoes. The formula works by slow release, and so only needs to be applied once per season, and can be efficiently added to the irrigation system versus sprayed.
The company recently released a study showing that its Nitrogen Fixation Technology (NFT) formula improves grain yield by 18 percent and biomass by 16 percent. The use of NFT allows farmers to significantly diminish their dependence on synthetic fertilizer, greatly reducing environmental damage while still boosting yields.
"Grace Breeding understands the stress that a drought can bring on farmers and consumers alike," says Assaf Dotan, CEO of Grace Breeding. "Our aim with our proprietary WDS formula is to provide farmers with a higher yield of industrial tomatoes to help maximize their production cycles and mitigate distribution challenges resulting from drought conditions. The use of our WDS helps farmers boost growth for industrial tomatoes in different plots amid various climate stress conditions. The product has a simple and efficient once-per-season application via the irrigation system that adds an additional economic benefit."
