Agro-ecological transitioning - Drought Stress

Testimonials worldwide confirm the consistent benefits of Best-a corn

The harvest of corn kernels is over, and results have proven better than the previous year for all growers. Once again, those who used Best-a fared even better with some reporting yield gains of 1 to 3 metric tons per hectare. Testimonials from satisfied farmers are pouring in from all over the world. They are a fine illustration of Best-a’s predictable positive results whatever the climate context, soil context, and weather conditions.

Crop seasons follow on from each other, but they are never the same. One year may be hit by historic drought, while the next may alternate between mild weather and rain, favoring corn growth. Against this backdrop of unpredictable weather, what yield gains can we expect when using Best-a?

In 2023, Elicit Plant’s phytosterols once again lived up to their promise in France, providing average yield gains of 590 kg per hectare – often more – as was the case for the Innov-Agri show experimental plot (gain of 1,540 kg per hectare).

Patrick Mounier Best-a user and French Farmer

A gain of 1,000 kg per hectare totaling an extra €200 per hectare

Farmers everywhere confirm these excellent results. Patrick Mounier, a cereal grower and agricultural contractor based close to France’s Atlantic coast, has been using Best-a for two years:

“From the very first use, I noticed differences between the plots treated with Best-a and the others, but I didn’t measure the final result,” he explains. “During the 2023 harvest time, the yield sensor clearly showed the gains made. I harvested an additional 1,000 kilograms per hectare, amounting to an extra 200 euros per hectare. That’s three to four times my investment in the product. I’ll be applying Best-a to all my corn production, both on my own plots and at my customers’ farms. If the new Elicit Plant solutions are equally effective, I’ll apply them across the board,” Patrick concluded.

See Patrick’s best-a testimonial video here >>

 

Mrs Azema farmer and Best-a user

Stéphanie and Thomas Azéma had “their best harvest in ten years” thanks to Best-a corn

Again in France, but further south, Stéphanie Azéma and her son Thomas gave similar feedback. Both growers of field crops (including a large proportion of corn), they have nothing but praise for Best-a’s effectiveness:

“We tested Best-a without really believing it would work, but we saw results just a few months later. We were surprised by the uniform nature of the plot. The ears of corn were well formed with no ‘tip back’,” summarized Thomas. Tip back appears when climatic incidents occur at key stages of corn growth. “We had no such problems on our 50 hectares. The gains were exceptional. We’ve been able to obtain yields that we hadn’t achieved in a decade! We harvested 14,990 kilograms from the Best-a treated plot, compared with 12,000 kilograms from the control area. From an economic point of view, it has meant an extra 500 to 530 euros per hectare.”

See Stéphanie’s Best-a testimonial video here >>

The product has also been “tested and approved” in Brazil

“On average, in the southern regions of Brazil, we have obtained 804 kilograms extra bags of corn thanks to the phytosterol-based solution”, says Felipe Sulzbach, VP sales & marketing Brazil at Elicit Plant. This average is based on the results of 90 trials carried out in 2023.

One of the trials was conducted with grower Cristiano Ulrich, who cultivates 220 hectares of corn, soybean, wheat, beans, oats and rye in São José da Glória, in the municipality of Victor Graeff. Mr. Ulrich carried out experiments on two separate areas of five hectares each, one of which was irrigated.

“In the non-irrigated area, we observed a higher yield of 3,420 kilograms per hectare, a significant difference especially in a drought year,” he explained.

The irrigated zone also showed positive results, with an increase of 804 kilograms per hectare – 10,020 in the control zone and 10,740 in the plot using phytosterol technology.

The difference has proved satisfactory, not only on my land, but in other areas too, so why not adopt it? ” he concluded.

Volodymyr Yakovenko

In Ukraine, Volodymyr Yakovenko reported an additional 800 to 900 kg per hectare

Volodymyr Yakovenko is a Ukrainian cereal grower with 1,500 hectares in the Vinnytsia region. He trialed Best-a for the first time in 2023, and got very interesting results.

“On the plots treated with Best-a, the spikes were larger, had more rows and more grains in a row. The lower leaves were also much greener,” he specifies. “At harvest, yields were higher where Best-a had been applied, particularly on a ‘no-till’ plot which yielded between 11,200 and 11,300 kilograms per hectare compared with 10,400 kilograms elsewhere.”

See Volodymyr’s Best-a testimonial video here >>

Sylwia Szymanczak

For Sylwia Szymanczak in Poland, “Best-a is a real asset for agriculture”

Agronomist and farmer Sylwia Szymanczak, in charge of monitoring and setting up trials in Poland, came to the same conclusion: whatever the soil and climate, Best-a corn takes action on plant metabolism and guarantees optimal growth.

“During this crop season, I was able to observe differences between corn that had received Best-a and corn that had not. While the control plots showed browned, curled and rough leaves (indicating a lack of water), the leaves of the corn treated with Best-a remained very green and open,” she explains. “In Poland, and particularly in the center of the country where conditions are dry, we suffer significant yield losses every year. In 2022, a year affected by water scarcity, we lost an average of 5 metric tons per hectare. For me, Best-a is a real asset for farmers.”

Unsurprisingly, her words are confirmed by this year’s trial results in Poland. Two of the trials, located in Smolice, achieved exceptional yield gains of 2,500 and 2,800 kilograms per hectare

Feedback from the field confirms Best-a is the ideal solution for securing yields in all soil and climate conditions

Other testimonials from last year also confirm the effectiveness of Best-a, this time in a context of extreme water stress in France. Crop manager Alban Chimbault noted a gain of 2,500 kilograms per hectare. Guillaume Delusset measured a 10% yield gain thanks to Best-a, whereas other unprotected corn grown on better land had suffered from the drought.

All this feedback from the field confirms that Best-a corn is the ideal solution to secure your yields. Even in the absence of prolonged drought, crops are subject to stress. Depending on the soil’s capacity to retain water, just a few dry days can mean a crop is affected by lack of water!

In a context where climate change is contributing to more sporadic rainfall, the risk of water shortage is more frequent. Yields can rapidly plummet, particularly if this stress occurs at a sensitive stage of the crop’s life cycle. Best-a is the ideal ally for handling water stress.