A “new” product on the Zambian market can help farmers deal with fertiliser shortage and increased costs.

If we tell you there is a “new” product on the Zambian market that could help you maximise the effects of the fertiliser you’re using by leading to improved production, even with only two bags of fertiliser per hectare, AND increase your profits by more than 40%, you’d probably laugh yourself silly, right? Well, you may want to sit down while you read this article.

The US product, PlantCatalyst^® has recently been approved for sale in Zambia by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). Early indications are that it promises to change the farming landscape in Zambia forever.

PlantCatalyst^® was invented in 1965 by American chemist, John W Willard PhD, and sold in the United States since 1973. PlantCatalyst^® is a water additive that helps plants to better absorb and utilise nutrients, develop stronger root systems, and build greater resistance to stressful events such as drought.

This means that farmers can get the most out of as little as 100 kilos of fertiliser per hectare and still see increases in their yield by double digit percentages! And at a stable and low cost of K290 per litre, using PlantCatalyst^® will help Zambian farmers, particularly during the recent dramatic fertiliser shortages and price increases, without sacrificing profits or yields.

PlantCatalyst^® was first introduced to Zambia in 2016 through a partnership with the international development group, iDE, who are helping smallholder farmers in the Lusaka, Copperbelt and Southern provinces find new ways to increase yields and profits.

When they learned how PlantCatalyst^® can help farmers in so many ways, iDE was eager to test the product and they set up comparison plots throughout the three regions. This project allowed them to conduct research on how the product works and how it could be incorporated into Zambian farming practices.

That same year the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) also began to conduct research on the effect of PlantCatalyst^® on maize, soya beans, groundnuts and cotton. ZARI also focused their research on how using PlantCatalyst^® could affect farmers’ yields and profit margins.

The results of these research projects continued to demonstrate the effectiveness of PlantCatalyst^® and conclusively proved that using it can help Zambian farmers in a number of different ways. For example, those farmers accessing inputs through the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) typically don’t get enough fertiliser. These farmers can more than make up for the insufficient fertiliser supply by adding PlantCatalyst^® to their inputs. For those farmers buying larger quantities of fertiliser, such as commercial farmers, using PlantCatalyst^® would help to reduce fertiliser costs while simultaneously increasing yields and profits. For some crops, ZARI found that profit increases could be as much as 40%!

ZARI’s trials also showed how using PlantCatalyst^® can help achieve President Lungu’s 21st Century agriculture goals. He wants to reduce Zambia’s dependence on fertiliser and maximi-

sing the limited supply currently available through the FISP programme. In fact, one international agriculture development organisation, ACDI/VOCA, (Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance) reviewed the ZARI findings and calculated that universal use of PlantCatalyst^® by Zambian farmers would save the government $47 million US annually and increase maize yields nationwide by a whopping 132 000 tonnes.

Research is continued on other crops this year. Of significance is that the Cotton Board of Zambia is also carrying out its own demonstrations on cotton this year. In Zambia it is widespread practice for very little or rather no granular fertilisers to be used in cotton. This has resulted in very low yields of the crop. Preliminary indications are that PlantCatalyst^® has a very positive effect.

AgriFocus, the distributors of PlantCatalyst^® in Zambia, have also done tests on the product. Below are photographs of some crops that are still growing and showing significantly improved vegetative growth. Each of the crops was planted on the same day and on the same land.

Farmers who use PlantCatalyst^® can expect the following:

Significant reduction in fertiliser usage: Applying PlantCatalyst^® allowed farmers to reduce fertiliser usage by up to 50% without sacrificing yield.

Reduced costs: As less fertiliser was needed to grow the plants, a reduction in the cost was observed when PlantCatalyst^® was applied. For soya beans, cotton and groundnuts, the production cost was decreased by up to 9%, which is the same as saving $26 US per hectare. In maize, the reduction of costs was up to $100 US per hectare.

Increased yields: The yield increase, and thus the profit obtained after using PlantCatalyst^®, was spectacular. In soya beans, the profit increase reached 41% compared to the trial with fertiliser only. Cotton showed an increase of 43% in profits, equal to $180 US per hectare. In the case of groundnuts, the increment in profit was about 10% compared to the trial without PlantCatalyst^®. For maize, the yield was increased with 18% per hectare compared to the control with only fertiliser.

Emission reduction: It is known that the use and application of fertiliser is related to CO₂ emissions. Using PlantCatalyst^® reduced the quantity of fertiliser needed per hectare and it was reflected in the decrease of greenhouse emissions. As the best results were obtained applying half the recommended quantity of fertiliser for all four crops, the reduction of CO₂ emissions was about 50%.

The great thing about PlantCatalyst^® is that it can be used in any agricultural operation and on any plant species, so the practice is very easy to adopt.

In the USA, PlantCatalyst^® has worked well on a variety of crops, including maize, cotton and soya beans, as well as in many plants and vegetables in greenhouses. PlantCatalyst^® has helped many farmers to improve their yields, minimising losses and increasing the way plants take up nutrients from fertiliser. But the mission of PlantCatalyst^® is to go beyond simply putting more money in people’s pockets to helping feed the world, and we’re proud to say that the Zambia expansion has been a great first step in that direction.

PlantCatalyst^® has already been available from April 2018. You can get supplies of PlantCatalyst^® from AgriFocus Ltd in Buyantashi Road in the Heavy Industrial Area of Lusaka. The other main distribution agents in Lusaka are Pamoza Agro (+26(0) 968-624-712) in Chachacha Road.

In the rest of the country, PlantCatalyst^® can be found in the following towns:

Mpongwe – Pamoza Agro +26(0) 974-881-674

Choma – AgMart
+26(0) 977-898-587 /
+26(0) 969-592-925 /
+26(0) 964-637-637

Mkushi – AgMart
+26(0) 976-264-121 /
+26(0) 968-265-774

Mumbwa – AgMart
+26(0) 962-614-074 /
+26(0) 977-855-867

Livingstone – Technical Services +26(0) 976-553-035 /
+26(0) 975-270-952

Kitwe – Technical Services +26(0) 078-388-492 /
+26(0) 975-271-065

Samfya – Technical Services +26(0) 975-271-346

Other locally based business agents that are being appointed throughout the country.