Through the Petrik system and years in the field observing trends TGS now has an understanding of natural systems. This empowers growers with the ability to support plants rather than fighting against nature. Using this system in recent years TGS have implemented worlds best practice Sigatoka control in North Queensland bananas. Through balancing the soil nutrition using the Petrik soil test and application of Petrik biology growers have reduced and in some cases eliminated fungicide application while improving control.

TGS developed from a company which provided information of disease, insect and mite populations and chemical and cultural control options. Field surveys carried out over more than a decade provided more than 20,000 individual farm visits where plant health statistics were collected. Expansion into plant nutrition allowed the accumulation of soil chemistry data in the TGS database. Adoption of the Petrik soil test using Albrecht’s cation balance principals provided the link between plant health and soil chemistry. In the past we considered the company worked in IPM, though in reflection we were treating symptoms without addressing the underlying causes. True IPM, integrates soil chemistry, soil biology and soil moisture management to maintain plant health with minimum chemical inputs. This applies to fungal attack in the foliage and nematode attack in the rhizoshpere.

Our principal disease control mechanism is cell wall integrity. This is achieved through fine tuning the soil chemistry, optimising the soil biology and irrigation monitoring to ensure uptake of all nutrients is optimum. The relationship of calcium to plant health has been well documented. Lesser known is the importance of other ions required for calcium availability both in the soil and in the plant. Field surveys are carried out where information on insect and disease levels are routinely recorded. Regular soil and leaf tests are taken as part of the program to ensure the plant has the required levels of nutrient to remain healthy.

TGS have demonstrated this relationship in banana, this work has been verified and published by CSIRO. The natural mechanism is applicable to any crop. The TGS team welcomes research requests into new areas and crops.