An on-going study at a Missouri university has presented strong evidence that soybean plants treated with an all-natural water conservation agent matured sooner, set pods sooner, produced more mature pods and more root mass
than untreated plants.

The recently released results of a greenhouse study conducted by University of Central Missouri has shown that soybean plants treated with an all-natural water conservation agent exhibit significantly increased root mass and number of mature pods than untreated plants.

The study was established on March 4, 2014 by Dr. Fanson Kidwaro, Professor of Agronomy at the University of Central Missouri, who was assisted by UCM graduate student Duncan Rotich. The conservation agent being tested was Brookside Agra's H2OExcel™.

"According to our data, the treated plants matured sooner and started to set pods sooner than untreated plants," concluded Kidwaro. "Increased root mass allowed plants to explore the soil and absorb water and nutrients efficiently, which contributed to the differences we observed."

The principal components of the conservation agent are plant and vegetable extracts. This gives the product high surfactant qualities and bioactivity. As the product is introduced to the water molecule, the surface tension is reduced allowing water to penetrate quicker, allowing the nutrients to reach the plant. Also, the bioactivity reportedly helps condition the soils by introducing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, which helps break the tightness of the soils and allows for faster root growth.

Helping soils absorb water more quickly and efficiently, helps businesses reduce time, money and energy needed to maintain healthy turf, landscaping and vegetation. The product is recommended for crops, vegetable gardens, landscapes and other uses.

"Water use and conservation for plant growth and development has become a big issue the past two years due to droughts," according to Kidwaro. "Maintenance of plant growth and development and ultimately yield will require irrigation should a drought occur during growing season. Droughts bring about unseasonably high temperatures, which result in excessive water loss due to evapotranspiration."

"Water will always take the path of least resistance and will simply run off," stated Kidwaro. "This common occurrence leads to the over-watering of plants, crops and yards because water cannot reach the root system. The use of this all-natural biodegradable solution that functions as a catalyst for water conservation will help alleviate this. It creates soils that absorb water quicker than it traditionally could."

For the study, soybean seeds were planted in 12 soil pots. After germination, Kidwaro and his team selected healthy seedlings and transplanted individual plants in 24 pots. Twelve pots with one plant per pot were treated with H2OExcel™ and the other twelve were not treated. Plant heights were recorded weekly.

Once the plants were established in the pots, Kidwaro and his team started to pull one plant from each treatment to measure root length and root mass. Roots were washed off carefully in water to remove the growth media.

Once the soil media was washed off, the roots were rinsed in clean water to remove any remaining soil particles. The roots were then placed on a paper towel for 20 minutes to remove excess water and measure root mass and length. Root weight (mass) was recorded using an ACCULAB Sartorius Group electronic balance in grams. The roots were then dried for a week and weighed. Yield components (pods per plant and seeds per pod)
were collected.

Soybean root samples were collected every week to determine and record wet and dry matter data. A graph depicting the data collected shows a consistent higher dry root mass in cases where the soybeans were treated. Wet root mass data exhibited similar results.

To determine the effects on crop yield, yield component data such as plants per acre, pods per plant, seeds per pod and seed weight were taken. Since the study is still ongoing, Kidwaro and his team counted the number of
pods per plant.

According to the team's data, treated plants exhibited more pods per plant compared to untreated plants. Since soybean plants exhibit indeterminate growth patterns, the team sampled three times and averaged the number across treatments. The team continued to sample until the pods filled with seed.