PHC.L Regulatory News (PHC)

4 Jul 2008 07:00



4 July 2008

Plant Health Care plc

("Plant Health Care" or "the Company")

More Potential Benefits Indicated for Plant Health Care's Myconate®

VA Mycorrhizal fungi produce glomalin,

a soil constituent that locks up soil carbon

Plant Health Care (AIM: PHC.L), a leading provider of natural products for plants and soil announces that the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) has found that a soil constituent known as glomalin and produced by beneficial vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (VAM) locks up soil carbon. VAM development and colonisation of plant roots is known to be stimulated by Plant Health Care's Myconate®. The findings on glomalin come from research conducted by Kristine Nichols, a microbiologist at the USDA-ARS in Mandan, North Dakota. The report is based in part on carbon-dating studies of glomalin.

Dr. Greg Lewis, Vice President, Corporate Development at Plant Health Care says: "VAM fungi act as a secondary plant root system, increasing a crop's ability to access and use available moisture and nutrients. By taking advantage of these known benefits of VA mycorrhizal fungi, growers can now not only improve the performance of their crops and enhance soil fertility, they may also be able to contribute to the long-term reduction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Our Myconate product has been shown to encourage the development of VAM fungi in a growing number of agricultural crops."

Glomalin is a sticky substance secreted by threadlike fungal structures called hyphae that funnel nutrients and water to plant roots. It is named after the Glomerales, the group of fungi to which some VAM fungi belong. So far, VAM fungi appear to be the only producers of glomalin.

Greg Lewis added, "Plant Health Care has known for some time the benefits of mycorrhizal fungi, including the Glomerales, to plants and the soil and it is most encouraging to see the ARS document that these same organisms can contribute to carbon storage in soils. The ARS suggests that glomalin can keep carbon from decomposing for up to100 years. This is significant for the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."

Plant Health Care offers the product Myconate, which stimulates the colonization of plants by native VAM fungi already present in the soil. Myconate offers the potential to increase yields and tests are underway to determine if the expanded root mass observed on Myconate-treated crops will allow for a reduction in irrigation and nutritional inputs as well. Preliminary on-farm trials have shown very promising results in row crops, cereals and several vegetable crops such as carrots, potatoes and celery. Other potential crops being studied include perennials like fruits and vines and more vegetable crops like peppers, tomatoes and cucurbits. Myconate can be applied to a seed or watered into the ground very easily via irrigation systems. Myconate's net effect is to stimulate the colonization of native VAM soil fungi on plant roots, improving a crop's ability to access moisture and nutrients.

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For Further Information:

Myconate®, ProAct®, N-Hibit® PHC, and the Plant Health Care, Inc. logo are trademarks of Plant Health Care, Inc.

Notes to editors:

"Glomalin is Key to Locking up Soil Carbon" By Don Comis was published on June 17, 2008 on the USDA-ARS website at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080617.htm?pf=1 

About Plant Health Care

Plant Health Care plc is a leading provider of natural products for plants and soil. Established in 1995 in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) in the United States, PHC currently has approximately 70 employees and has operations in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. The Company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2004. Ticker symbol is PHC.

PHC's products are aimed at the landscape, agriculture and land reclamation industries and are environmentally beneficial. Through the commercialization of these products, PHC is capitalizing on current long-term trends toward natural systems and biological products for plant care and soil and water management. Further information is available at: www.planthealthcare.com.