Enlightened Soil Corp:
The Next Generation of AgTech
Bio-based Growing Solutions
Are The Model for the 21st Century
AgTech of the Past- The 20th Century
Today, corn farmers commonly harvest 220 bushels per acre on land that produced 40 bushels in the 1940s. This change happened because of the "Green Revolution" of the late 20th Century. Agriculture became industrialized, focusing primarily on maximizing yields through technological innovations like genetically modified and hybrid plants, synthetic chemical fertilizers (NPK), and novel herbicides and pesticides.
The approach worked for six decades, but has now run into difficulty with yield stagnation, the evolution of chemical-resistant weeds and pests, and degradation of soil health with chemical inputs that bypass natural soil processes.
A New Bio-based AgTech for the 21st Century
Today, new and organic inputs are being developed based on soil microbiology and an understanding of soil chemistry. Examples include designer compost with a microbial mix that is crop specific. Devoping these new bio-based soil/plant amendments involves microbiological testing, and studies of the soil’s genome may replace work currently done with the microscope. Novel nutrient inputs are being developed that supply nitrogen, but also carbon that fuels soil microbials (many of them are related to biochar). Production of these inputs often involve high-tech processes.
EnSoil Algae is "Next Generation" AgTech
EnSoil Algae is an example of the new bio-based Ag-Tech movement. It is in a new class of inputs called bio-stimulants, organisms or compounds that enhance pant growth. EnSoil Algae—live Chlorella vulgaris—when applied to soil, stimulates soil microbial activity. With time, soil health--microbial content and function—improves.
Even more importantly, recent studies show live algae may help dealing with drought and water contamination in the following ways:
1)Chlorella vulgaris produces antioxidant enzymes that convey drought resistance and mitigate the effects of salt in irrigation water.
2)The use of EnSoil Algae in place of NPK can prevent nitrate contamination in watersheds. Unlike NPK fertilizers, live Chlorella vulgaris does not go into solution, so it does not reach ground water.
While the use of live algae as a soil amendment is not new, much of the science explaining its mechanism of action is. The production of EnSoil Algae, a stable culture of Chlorella vulgaris, involves proprietary water treatment and growing techniques that are high tech.