ONIONS

Record Onion Harvest Smashes Average Yields with an increase of 89.45%

*The following text has been transcribed from a video interview with a South African farmer.*

“We used SumaGrow (referred to as ExploGrow) on our December* planting of onions. We normally harvest an average of 55 tons per hectare on our December planting. The final tonnage added up to 104.2 tons per hectare. This was an 89.45% increase, which equals an increase of 49.2 tons per hectare. The only change made to our normal onion program was that we added SumaGrow together with the recommended food products for SumaGrow. We are very excited about the road ahead. We immediately applied SumaGrow to all our potato crops. Now we are also very excited to see what SumaGrow will achieve with our potatoes.”

The estimated return on investment for this onion harvest is 3,959%. This translates to an estimated financial gain of $68,953.84 US dollars.

Record Onion Harvest Smashes Average Yields with an increase of 89.45% pic 1

67.7% Increased Root Mass in Onion Crop

When a farmer ran out of Root-knot nematode poison on the SumaGrow treated area, they decided not to apply the poison on the remaining SumaGrow treated areas. Instead the farmer decided to put his trust in the plants’ own abilities and defenses when growing in an environment with the right combination of diverse and beneficial microbial species.67.7% Increased Root Mass in Onion Crop pic 1

Photo of Onion roots

  • A + B: control Onions
  • C + D: ExploGrow™ treated Onions
  • C: ExploGrow™ treated Onions with NO Root-knot nematode poison
  • D: ExploGrow™ treated Onions with Root-knot nematode poison

67.7% Increased Root Mass in Onion Crop pic 2

As expected, the (C) SumaGrow treated onions developed roots almost double in size, with a +67.7% increased root mass.

A further observation is that the C onions (SumaGrow treated with NO Root-knot nematode poison) have bigger root systems than the D onions (SumaGrow treated WITH Root-knot nematode poison), a 42.3% increased root mass versus the SumaGrow treated onions (D) that did receive the nematode poison as well.

67.7% Increased Root Mass in Onion Crop pic 3

South Africa Onion Trial Achieves a Return on Investment of 3959%

Return on investment: for every R1.00 invested in ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow), the farmer received a return of R39,59 (3,959%)

  • Hectares planted: 6
  • ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) applied: 48 liters
  • Normal yield: 55 tons per hectare (5 year average)
  • ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) yield: 104.2 tons per hectare
  • Additional tons per hectare: 49.8
  • Additional income per ton: R3,000.00
  • Additional tons harvested: 298.8 tons
  • Additional income over 6 hectares: R896,400.00
  • Return on investment: 3,959%

The estimated investment gain (return) is based on the farmer harvesting an extra 298.8 tons of onions by the use of ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow).  This translates in to an estimated financial gain of R 896,400.00 (US$ 68,953.84) = the sales value of the extra 298.8 tons of onions.

Interview with the farmer explaining his record onion harvest:

(The text below has been transcribed from the above video interview (in Afrikaans) with the farmer.)

“We used ExploGrow™ on our December* planting of onions.

*[extreme hot weather]

We applied 8 liters [2,11 US gal] per hectare [2,47 acres] of ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow).

We normally harvest an average of 55 tons per hectare on our December planting. Having just finished harvesting, the land [on the first preliminary calculation] yielded 95.6 tons** per hectare.

** [The final tonnage, however, added up to 104.2 tons per hectare. This was an +89.45% increase = +49.2 tons per hectare. This final tonnage was actually 8.6 tons more per hectare than the preliminary calculation mentioned in the video interview.]

The only change made to our normal onion program was that we added ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow), together with the recommended food products*** for ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) microbes.

We applied the 8 liters / ha of ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) twice at 4 liters per application [4 liters x 2], followed by 10 liters / ha of the recommended food products*** for the ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) microbes.

We are very excited about the road ahead.
We immediately applied ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) to all our potato crops! [Estimated around 100 hectares]
Now we are also very excited to see what ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) will achieve with our potatoes.

Thank you very much, Rian.” 🙂

***[The “ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) food products” (co-applied to the soil) consist of low cost organic matter, carbon etc., generally recommended to assist some functions of the microbial species contained in the ExploGrow™ (SumaGrow) poly-microbial blend. These food products are recommended (although, not essential) when a soil analysis shows levels of high nitrate; low carbon and low organic matter.]