An independent report with statistical significance has demonstrated the effectiveness on pepper crops of AlgaEnergy’s microalgae based biostimulants, AgriAlgae®.

Spain is the fifth largest pepper producer worldwide, the first in Europe and, out of the ten largest producers, our country obtains the highest yield in kilograms per square meter. Not in vain one out of four peppers produced in the EU is grown in Almeria. According to these data, our country is in a privileged situation to position itself as a world reference in this crop. The producing sector needs to implement measures to increase their competitiveness in order to consolidate this position in the world market of the pepper.

In this framework, the prestigious agronomical research center iMiDRA (Institute for Rural and Agricultural Research and Development of Madrid) concludes that the results of using AgriAlgae® - AlgaEnergy’s microalgae based agricultural biostimulants- in maximizing yields and quality, are exceeding the ones obtained by the other commonly used biostimulants of reference.

The field trials, designed with statistical significance and carried out by iMiDRA at their Experimental Farm “La Isla” (Madrid), compare the effects provided by AgriAlgae® applied on pepper with the ones provided by other biostimulant products derived from animal based amino acids and from seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum), as well as with a control treatment -same conditions but without any biostimulant application-.

The study shows how the pepper plants treated with AgriAlgae® improve their performance significantly in terms of commercial production, first quality production and losses due to non-marketable production. It also confirms the excellent results obtained by AgriAlgae® in terms of qualitative traits such as the average weight of the fruits.

Increasing pepper yields

One of the most significant findings extracted from the report issued by iMiDRA shows how in the plots treated with AgriAlgae®, the commercial production was considerably higher, reaching 21% more commercial production compared to the second-best treatment. In the same way, of particular relevance are also the findings regarding first quality production, since, although all biostimulant treatments increased the first quality production, this increase was especially significant in the plots treated with AgriAlgae®. In fact, the first quality production obtained with AgriAlgae® was 29% more compared to the second-best result.

These results confirm once again the effectiveness of the microalgae based biostimulants AgriAlgae®, in this case on pepper. In relation to the data obtained, Carlos Rodríguez-Villa, AlgaEnergy’s General Manager, assessed that “as numerous field trials carried out in pepper previously, this independent study supports with statistical significance that AgriAlgae® is an innovative, sustainable and, above all, very effective solution towards maximizing productive yields, but also the commercial value".

Higher quality and less losses due to non-marketable production

The non-marketable production -discarded peppers- can be due to many different causes (non-commercial weight and caliber or apical rot, among many others) and can imply a big reduction of the commercial production.

In this regard, especially significant are the findings obtained in relation to the reduction of production losses due to non-marketable production. The results concluded that the plots treated with AgriAlgae® reduced the number of discarded peppers in a 6.7% compared to the second-best treatment.

iMiDRA’s field trials also show excellent results obtained by AgriAlgae® in terms of qualitative traits. In fact, the optimal development experienced by the crop throughout the whole cycle resulted in a higher fruit weight. This is a qualitative parameter of great importance as it is a symptom of an increased commercial value derived from the AgriAlgae® treatment.