Brazil:– Groundwork BioAg, Ltd. and NovaTero, Ltd. are pleased to announce that Rootella BR™ mycorrhizal inoculant has achieved commercial registration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) for application as a seed treatment on soybean and corn. NovaTero has started selling this product in Brazil under the name Rootella BR™.

Efficacy trials on corn and soybean were conducted on six sites across Brazil, under varied climatic conditions and on numerous soil types. Three levels of phosphorus fertilizer were tested, including commercial standard for each site. Rootella BR™ performed exceptionally well, increasing yields above 11% in each and every treatment – on both crops, under all fertilization regimes and in all sites. Most yield improvements were considered statistically significant, and Rootella BR™’s impact was typically higher under reduced phosphorus rates. Yields of untreated crops were normal for the season, i.e. 4-8 t/ha for corn, and 2-4 t/ha for soybean, depending on the site and conditions.

“NovaTero did a great job carrying out field trials over the last two years, and the results speak for themselves,” states Dan Grotsky, VP Sales and Marketing at Groundwork BioAg. “Now that we have received commercial product registration, we expect to ramp up sales rapidly in this new market. Brazil is thirsty for cost-effective mycorrhiza, and this sizable market will quickly become one of our main foci,” he adds.

Bernardo Arnaud, NovaTero´s Chairman of the Board, claims that “Rootella BR™ is a pioneering product in Brazil, as a few other companies tried to register their mycorrhiza-based products over the last decades but failed to validate efficacy and repeatability of results. Our product passed summa cum laude and impressed everybody involved in the validation and commercial trials. We look forward to expanding the awareness and kicking off the official application of mycorrhizal fungi in Brazil on an industrial scale. And, of course, expanding the range of our collaboration with Groundwork BioAg.”