What is Beneficial Bacteria?
There are many different types of beneficial bacteria present in most soils providing a diverse range of benefits to plants and soil. One group of beneficial bacteria help to build a biological interface between the soil environment and plant root systems.
In most soils there are many species of fungi and bacteria. Some are beneficial, some benign and other antagonistic to crop growth. There is one genus of bacteria which is represented by many strains of one species in particular, Bacillus subtilis. This Bacillus subtilis species is generally beneficial to the function of the root soil interface in crop plants but different strains have different capabilities. Bayer has screened thousands of strains of Bacillus subtilis bacteria since the late 90’s and identified and developed one highly active strain QST 713 for use in horticulture and agriculture. This strain was selected because of its extreme speed of colonisation of roots and because of its superior ability to provide plants with increased access to soil resources.
Serenade® Prime
In each container of Serenade Prime there is a guaranteed quantity of viable spores of the highly active QST 713 strain of Bacillus subtilis in an easy-to-use liquid suspension concentrate formulation.
After germination these beneficial bacteria live on plant root surfaces and in the soil around the plant root systems in a zone called the rhizosphere. In the rhizosphere, plants and bacteria can develop a mutually beneficial relationship under suitable conditions. When the interactions between the bacteria, the plants and the soil are balanced, both the plants and the bacterial populations in this zone function at a higher level as a result. When plants and beneficial bacteria are functioning in harmony in the rhizosphere, resources required for growth such as nutrients and water become more available through the mutually beneficial plant/bacteria relationship.
It is important to understand that it is only as a result of interactions within the rhizosphere that the benefit to plants becomes available. Serenade Prime does not directly provide improved plant growth – it is only when there is an active interface between soils, plant roots, the highly active strain QST 713 bacteria and some of the exudate biochemicals from the roots that benefits of higher functioning plants/crops becomes accessible.