(Alliance News) - Plant Health Care PLC on Wednesday said that trial of its PHC279 agriculture product boosted corn yields.
Shares in the company surged 54% to 9.80 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.
When PHC279, which comes from natural proteins and encourages the plant to defend itself, was used a foliar spray, corn yields increased by between 9% and 15%.
"PHC279 significantly improved the control of two key corn diseases by as much as 50%, even under heavy disease pressure," the company said.
In spring wheat, PHC279 increased yield by as much as 17% when added to the conventional disease control programme.
Lettuce yields meanwhile, surged by as much as 22% when PHC279 was applied, compared to use of fungicides alone.
"We are extremely encouraged with the performance of PHC279 in multiple key crops. Building on our recent success with PHC279 for the control of Asian soybean rust in Brazil, it is clear PHC279 will have important benefits for farmers in many crops," Chief Executive Officer Chris Richards said.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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Plant Health (PHC)