New Ag International JUN/JUL 2020
Calcium nitrate is a low-profile product that rarely grabs any headlines but that belies its importance to the global fertigation sector.
The partnership agreement between FBSciences and YARA has yielded its first product ZiCAN™ Soil, initially available in the United States. Both companies will market the product, while sales will go through FBSciences.
ZiCAN Soil was specially formulated to mix with YaraLiva® liquid calcium nitrate fertilizers, including YaraLiva CAN-17 and YaraLiva CN-9.
The fundamental problem that ZiCAN Soil looks to overcome is the incompatibility between liquid zinc and fertilizers with calcium. This unique formulation allows nitrogen, calcium, zinc and manganese to mix together in the tank for perfect compatibility, according to FBSciences.
ZiCAN Soil is a liquid product designed to be mixed with CAN-17 or CN-9 at a ratio of 0.25 to 1.0 gallons per 10 gallons of liquid calcium fertilizer.
“ZiCAN Soil is designed for use on any crop where zinc and calcium are needed, so there is the opportunity for broad applicability globally,” said Courtenay Wolfe, CEO of FBSciences. “Across our collaboration, we are striving to deliver a few key things to growers. Compatibility between essential nutrients which means fewer trips across the field, which is good for the planet and a cost savings for the grower.
Additionally, whatever is in the tank will see increased productivity through the use of ourFBS Transit® technology, which increases the efficiency of all nutrients, in addition to increasing yield. All of this will create meaningful increases in ROI to the grower,” added Wolfe.
The ZiCAN Soil formulation does not use EDTAs or sulphates, which are inherently incompatible with calcium nitrate. Instead the metal sources are fully compatible and have been complexed with organic materials.
FBSciences produces their core biostimulant technology – known as FBS Transit – by selecting and extracting natural compounds from natural organic matter (NOM). The desired molecules are captured and concentrated, which can then be used to enhance the uptake of nutrients. It is this technology that lies at the heart of their global nutrient product portfolio.
All the company’s bio-solution technologies, including FBS Transit, are derived from NOM, which exists at varying concentrations depending on the source. The company says its NOM is natural, sustainable, renewable and a young source.
“We take our source material and use a proprietary production process which yields our three different technologies, all of which are a complex mixture of thousands of organic compounds derived from freshly decomposed plant matter. This NOM is biologically active and stimulates various responses in plants,” said Kristen Richards, Senior Scientist, Formulation & Production.
“The source material helps yield many functional groups and this complex mixture of biologically active compounds elicits a wide variety of plant responses. We do not fit in to one specific category of biostimulants; rather, we fall across a variety of groups due to the complex nature of our source materials (NOM) combined with our production process.”
The company stated its technologies can produce a consistent boost in yield, with an average increase of 15 percent globally across all crops. This data comes from over 1,500 independent and university studies on 53 different crops worldwide, across six continents. ZiCAN Soil also has some nitrogen in its analysis derived from ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, the latter forming the greater portion. “We used this in the formulation to make it stable. We could have used something else, but we wanted a raw material that added benefit,” says Richards.
FBSciences and Yara spent 2019 field testing the combination of their products. The resulting ZiCAN Soil has wide applicability across many crops, stated the company. It is appropriate for any grower who wants to put zinc and calcium nitrate in the tank at the same time.
FBSciences and YARA have agreed to design and commercialize additional calcium nitrate compatible products. These products are scheduled for launch in 2020 and 2021 across North America.
