19th December 2023
Award-winning biostimulant technology ‘MTU®’ featured in a presentation at the prestigious Biostimulants World Congress. Dr Jaroslav Nisler, Head of the Isotope Laboratory at the Institute of Experimental Botany (CZ), led the development of MTU® on behalf of IntraCrop, a division of Frontier Agriculture.
Recently, Jaroslav took centre-stage at the Biostimulants World Congress, presenting on the molecule under the title ‘MTU® – a small molecule with a strong effect on stress tolerance and nitrogen use efficiency’.
MTU® can stimulate plant processes at a surprisingly low dose rate of 0.5g/ha. In fact, across 77 trial comparisons on winter wheat from 2020 to 2023, an average response of 0.42t/ha has been evidenced at a range of timings.
MTU®’s main mode of action is to inhibit the breakdown of photosynthetic pigments, resulting in an increase in the content of chlorophyll a and b, beta-carotene and lutein by 15-20%. This reduces the age related senescence of leaves. MTU prolongs the photosynthetically active lifetime of individual leaves, enabling them to photosynthesise more and for longer, absorbing more CO2 and creating energy rich sugars which the plants use for growth.
The same effect of MTU® is also seen in plants exposed to abiotic stress (drought, heat, salinity) increasing yield by 7-20%.
MTU® also significantly improves the absorption of nitrogen fertilisers. Plants contain a certain ratio of carbon to nitrogen. MTU®, by increasing carbon assimilation, enables plants to increase nitrogen uptake to balance this ratio so nutrient use efficiency is improved.
Jaroslav said, “It is good to remember that MTU® is a substance of a hormonal nature, so it works at very low concentration. It also has almost no negative impact on the environment, with results obtained by the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture showing that MTU has no effect on the soil microbiome, its bacteria, invertebrates and other organisms."
Speaking at the event, Intracrop Commercial Director, Dr Mark Palmer, added, “We are pleased to see that MTU® is getting the recognition it deserves on a global stage. Conversations around its mode of action and results are positive and exciting, and we can really feel a buzz in the air here at the Biostimulants World Congress.
"As a science-led organisation we have meticulously tested and evidenced what MTU® is capable of and have great confidence in its ability to deliver on label claims. We would like to thank NewAg International for highlighting this technology and what it can do for farmers in Europe and, eventually, beyond.”
MTU® is available in the product Status, exclusively from Frontier Agriculture in the UK. This is one of a number of new lower environmental impact nutrition technologies that Frontier is helping to develop and trial in order to help farmers understand how they can enhance different crop production systems.
Image left to right: Emily Way, Technical Officer, Intracrop; Dr Mark Palmer; Dr Jaroslav Nisler
You can read a NewAg International article about MTU here.
