Sysstem-Pecan™ boosts yield and health in stressed groves
The challenges of a difficult weather year don’t end when the calendar changes to the new year. Early-season nutrition can be critically important for grove yield and nut quality, especially in the spring after more difficult seasons. Trees will need nutrients such as zinc, nickel and phosphite for leaf, bud, bloom and root development as well as vascular health. New Sysstem-Pecan™ from Agro K Corporation was created to meet these specific nutrient demands.
Sysstem-Pecan™ combines zinc, nickel and phosphite for robust health and yield in one convenient foliar application that is simple to use and ideal for a springtime nutrition balancing boost. University and USDA research has long shown the yield and tree health benefits of zinc, but in recent years studies have shown that nickel is another key nutrient. Lack of either zinc or nickel can limit nut weight, nut filling, pecan yield and quality.
Discussions of tree nutrition and the role of micronutrients will be one of the topics when pecan growers gather for the annual Georgia Pecan Growers Association (GPGA) conference and trade show March 26-27 in Perry. Information on the topic and on Sysstem-Pecan™ will be featured in the Meherrin Ag booth at the conference. Growers also will have the opportunity to register their farms for 25% discounts this year on Sysstem-Pecan™ and drawings for 10 Yeti® coolers. Agro-K also will be donating 5% of the proceeds from Sysstem-Pecan™ sales in 2014 to the GPGA for research and development programs.
“When zinc and nickel are combined in one early-season foliar application, it’s kind of like a Vitamin B shot for pecan trees,” says Chapman Mayo, president of Agro-K Corporation, one of the country’s oldest and most science-based tree nutrition companies. “The key benefit of the phosphite formulation is that it helps drive the zinc and nickel systemically throughout the tree while also aiding in overall tree health. Sysstem-Pecan™ is an excellent complement to a grower’s disease management program and can really benefit long-term health and consistent productivity of the trees.”
Sysstem-Pecan™ is a blend of zinc phosphite and nickel phosphite that is convenient and a compatible tank mix partner, with no mixing difficulties or antagonism with most other seasonal applications such as fungicides, Mayo says.
Zinc improves flowering, fruit size, leaf efficiency, nut yield, leaf expansion and shoot elongation. USDA research notes that “Zinc deficiency is the most common and probably the most harmful micronutrient deficiency of commercial pecan enterprises.”
Plant stress due to deficiencies in nickel is “a potential profit limiting problem,” says another USDA report.
Sysstem-Pecan™ is part of the Sysstem® Series line of compatible micronutrient products Agro-K has formulated using its exclusive phosphite process. The other Sysstem® Series products of importance for pecan production include Sysstem®-ZN, Sysstem®-CAL, Sysstem®-MG, Sysstem®-MN, Sysstem®-K, and Sysstem®-ZMag. Each will address specific micronutrient deficiencies that can limit nut yield and quality.
For more information about Sysstem-Pecan™ contact a Meherrin Ag dealer or call (850) 545-9004.