As part of the NASPA and PostCova projects, field strip trials were carried out at Cresswell Barn Farm, by kind permission of the Elliott family. They grow around 170ha of potatoes on the silt clay loams, next to the Cleddau estuary in Pembrokeshire.

The strip trial evaluated the potato crop performance (var. Orla) comparison between treated/untreated areas of a uniform field.

Hypothases tested:- 

• Use of foliar biostimulants to reduce crop stress (esp. heat/drought) (NASPA project)
• Greatly reduced use of soil-applied & foliar fungicides
• Use of soil-applied proprietary OptiYield microbial consortia (ConsortiumZ + BugBoost) (NASPA project)
• Replacement of soil-applied major nutrients (P, K, Mg) and micronutrients with OptiYield foliar formulations

The results. 

• 26% increase in marketable yield over the standard treatment