Product Update: Harpin

RNS Number : 7406T

Plant Health Care PLC

12 December 2011

 



12 December, 2011

Plant Health Care plc

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

INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION THAT PLANT HEALTH CARE'S HARPIN SEED TREATMENT, WHEN USED IN COMBINATION WITH INDUSTRY STANDARD SEED TREATMENTS, INCREASES SOYBEAN YIELDS BEYOND STANDARDS ALONE

Plant Health Care (AIM: PHC), a leading provider of naturally-derived products to the agriculture industry, announces that yield data from Direct Enterprises, Inc. ("DEI"), Monsanto's exclusive distributor of N-Hibit^® HX-209 (Harpin αβ protein) dry formulated seed treatment, shows that Plant Health Care's Harpin seed treatment technology delivers added yield, over and above traditional insecticide/fungicide seed treatment combinations. 

According to Bill Haubner, President of DEI: "Our 2011 field trial once again demonstrates that N-Hibit HX-209 enhances the performance of every insecticide/fungicide combination we tested.  All our tests are replicated using standard, Random Complete Block design, and they're conducted from planting through harvest by independent contract researchers, With data from 33 different testing locations across the Midwest, ranging from South Dakota to Ohio, and all states in-between, there's enough for us to say that not only does N-Hibit HX-209 increase soybean yields, when it's used in combination with industry standard insecticide/fungicide treatments, it adds substantially to the yield increases normally associated with those treatments."

DEI reports that when N-Hibit HX-209 was added to the most widely used combination soybean insecticide/fungicide seed treatment, the addition of N-Hibit resulted in a yield increase of 2.8 bushels per acre versus the same treatment without harpin.  When N-Hibit HX-209 was used with the second-most widely used insecticide/fungicide seed treatment in the USA soybean market, the yield difference jumped to 3.7 bushels per acre versus the same combination without N-Hibit HX-209.

John Brady, CEO of Plant Health Care states that: "This independent verification from DEI confirms what we've always known; the addition of Harpin to soybeans boosts yields.  Whether used alone, or in combination with the best insecticide/fungicide combinations, Harpin seed treatment delivers value to soybean farmers. It also validates Monsanto's choice to continue making Harpin seed treatment available to American soybean growers via the downstream treatment market while we're working to develop a liquid Harpin formulation that satisfies Monsanto's requirement for upstream use. "

DEI, based in Westfield, Indiana, is a key distributor of seed enhancements and application equipment in the USA.  Please visit www.go2dei.com to see the complete data set that shows the results of all treatments at each location.

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For further information, please contact:

Plant Health Care plc
John Brady, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Evolution Securities	Tavistock Communications
Tim Worlledge/Jeremy Ellis/Adam James	Jeremy Carey/Simon Compton
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone]
	[e-mail]       [e-mail]

About Plant Health Care plc: Plant Health Care is a leading provider of naturally derived products for plants and soil. Established in 1995 in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) in the United States, Plant Health Care currently has approximately 90 employees and has operations in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. The Company's ordinary shares have been quoted on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") of the London Stock Exchange since July 2004 and listed on the Official List of the Channel Islands Stock Exchange ("CISX") in February 2010 (ticker symbol/ mnemonic: PHC).

Plant Health Care's products are aimed at the agriculture and landscape industries and are environmentally beneficial. Through the commercialisation of these products, Plant Health Care is capitalising 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.

 

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