Engage Agro Europe launch the Silicon Sisters

‘Sion’ and ‘Sentinel’ are novel silicon formulations designed to support and strengthen crop growth

Engage Agro Europe will launch two new products at GLAS 2016

Retail

30 June 2016

Over three years in development, Engage Agro Europe launches two new silicon products for Ireland at Glas 2016.

The two products of ‘Sion’ and ‘Sentinel’ are novel silicon formulations designed to support and strengthen crop growth. It has long been know that silicon may aid crop growth as it is an element abundant in soils which plants use to create new cells, so is vitally important to new growth. However understanding the other benefits of silicon in media grown crops is now gaining more impetus due to fact in most circumstances root silicon levels are far lower that they naturally would be in their soil grown counterparts.

Engage Agro Europe are at the forefront of the European work and have been trialling the two products with its partners across the UK, Ireland and Europe to build nutrient data support for the elements use in media grown crops.

The two formulations slightly differ from each other in that ‘Sion’ is solely silicon, created in a form that once applied to water it creates silicon dioxide, which plants can readily take up or absorb through foliar application.

The benefits of the use of Sion are many, however Engage Agro’s work has centred on the improvements silicon can make to plant cell development and increasing the silica-cellulose framework that strengthen cells to aid stronger growth and support greater nutrient transport to increase the assimilation of secondary and micro nutrients. Plus, work has also focused the mechanical and physiological benefits of higher levels silicon to improve yield and quality potential along with the alleviation of abiotic and biotic stresses within the plant.

It is this work that highlighted the relationship between silicon and salicylic acid and the benefits it can bring to enhancing the movement of silicon into and around the plant to support the process of cellular regeneration around wound areas to reduce healing time and therefore limit disease infection sites. Also the work has looked at the increases in immune response the plant can achieve when it has greater access to higher levels of both silicon and salicylic acid.

From work in this area, the product Sentinel was born and the product carries healthy levels of both to support media grown crops especially those bearing flower and fruit.From the data generated Engage Agro Europe are excited for the future of the technologies and the benefits the product will give to growers.

Both products will be on launched at Glas on the JF McKenna’s stand this July and EAE and Mckenna’s look forward to welcoming consultants, agronomists and growers to discuss the technologies in more detail.