H2 Fertilization: Is this the Benefit of Crops In Rotation?

The beneficial effect on crop growth from rotation and inter-cropping with legumes is recognized the world over. The more efficient utilization of growth resources leads to yield advantages and increased stability compared to sole cropping. Researchers formerly of  Queen's University believe they have developed a technique that mimics the benefits of crop rotation: a "chemical-free" and effective way to improve crop growth by 10-30% without rotating crops. Dr. David Layzell (University of Calgary) and Dr. Zhongmin Dong (St. Mary’s University) enhanced the soil’s activity by pre-treating or treating in-situ the soil with hydrogen.

Experimental results obtained to date show that plant growth significantly improved as indicated by the plant’s ability to grow faster, larger and/or more vigorously relative to a plant in an untreated environment. In wheat barley, head production was advanced by a few days. Tiller numbers are increased by 30-40%.  With spring wheat, growth of both root and shoot were more than 30% greater (p>= 0.01) in treated soil than in untreated soil. Similar growth results were obtained with barley, soybean and canola.

Hydrogen appears to have the effect of enhancing 30% more plant growth by promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). One aspect of the technology is a process to identify and isolate these PGPRs.

Applications:

1. “Super soil” or potting soil ideal for backyard gardener / community fields garden / municipal garden.
2. Crop Soil Additive or inoculants for large-scale application

Potential products:

1. A method that could be used to treat bulk soils over a period of 2 to 6 weeks to improve the structure, biological health, and fertility of the soil.  

Ø  Hydrogen treatment – hydrogen enriched air (a few thousands ppm) will be used to treat soil.  A hydrogen generator could be built to produce the gas mixture to treat soil. 

2. A soil–like product that – when added to normal soil at a rate of about 1:10 or 1:20, significantly increases the fertility of the soil.

Ø  Hydrogen treated soil or enriched soil with hydrogen oxidizing bacteria.

3. A microbial product that when added to soil, significantly enhance the fertility of the soil.

Ø  Bacterial isolates cultured in broth can be produced in large quantity in a very short time. These bacteria can be simply added to any type of soil to increase soil fertility.

4. A fertilizer-like product that significantly increases the growth and health of the plants when a spoon sized amount is applied to seeds, tubers, or bulbs during planting.

Ø  Vacuum dried bacteria can be mixed with chemical fertilizer to make a bio-fertilizer.

5. Peat moss based inoculants.

Ø  Inoculants contain 2 x 10⁹ cells per gram peat with 40% moisture content can be applied to seeds, tubers, bulbs, or any transplanted plant.

Advantages:

1. The growth of various plants in a crop trial is enhanced by 10-30% or more.
2. Hydrogen is benign and non-toxic.
3. The results appear to be independent of soil source. However, better quality soils showed greater improvement.

Stage of Development:

• A “Soil Activation Kit”, applicable to above-mentioned Potential Products #1 and #2, is currently under development.  PARTEQ Innovations is working with a local scientific equipment manufacturer to identify component cost and the creation of a fully-functional kit (components, installation guide, etc.).
• This system comprises: a) a H₂ metering system including a hook-up for one cylinder of H₂ gas or H₂ enriched air, and control means to release the enriched gas streams into the soil; and b) a H₂ assay system to evaluate the rate of H₂ uptake.
• This kit would allow on-site production of activated soil for local farms, greenhouses and commercial bulk soil suppliers.
• Target Market: Commercial Soil Distributors and Horticultural Stores in North America
• Advantages of this system include; simple installation process, easy to use, portable, and low cost.
• further details available on request.

Status of Intellectual Property:

• US 6,848, 212, “Methods For Enhancing Plant Growth Using Hydrogen Gas”, Layzell et al. Issued February 1, 2005.
• US 7,162,834, “Methods For Enhancing Plant Growth Using Hydrogen Gas”, Layzell et al. Issued January 16, 2007.

Status of Commercialization

PARTEQ Innovations, the technology transfer office of Queen’s University, is seeking industrial partners willing to support ongoing development of the product and/or who are interested in licensing the intellectual property.