TIDMHMI
RNS Number : 0230O
Harvest Minerals Limited
30 September 2019
Harvest Minerals Limited / Index: LSE / Epic: HMI / Sector:
Mining
30 September 2019
Harvest Minerals Limited ('Harvest' or the 'Company')
KPFértil Produces Superior Results to Conventional Fertilisers
in Coffee Trials
Harvest Minerals Limited, the AIM listed remineraliser producer,
is pleased to announce the initial results of long-term trials on
the effectiveness of KPFértil compared to conventional chemical
fertiliser on coffee plants.
Highlights
-- Initial results from long-term trials on coffee plants show
KPFértil is superior to conventional fertilisers
-- Key biometric measurements were taken after first six and twelve months:
o Six months - with the exception of stalk diameter, all
biometric measurements showed superior results when KPFértil is
used rather than conventional fertilisers
o Twelve months - all biometric measurements showed superior
results when KPFértil was applied, despite additional phosphate
being added to the conventional treatment after the first six
months
-- Trials are being conducted by the Associação dos
Cafeicultores de Araguari ('ACA') in Brazil
To view this announcement with illustrative images please use
the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/0230O_1-2019-9-27.pdf
Brian McMaster, Executive Chairman of Harvest stated, "Since we
conducted our first agronomic studies in 2016, our knowledge of the
application and potential of KPFértil has grown exponentially.
These latest results, which are part of a wider programme of
long-term agronomic studies, show what we have long suspected -
that KPFértil is superior to conventional fertilisers for
coffee.
"Additionally, we have been working with several large coffee
grower customers around testing the benefits of KPFértil through
composting with organic waste and manure to promote the growth of
natural bacteria, crucial in good soil development. These tests are
producing exciting results, which we will release in due
course.
"Much of the development and testing work which commenced
several years ago is coming home to prove the importance of
KPFértil, which is very timely to aid our marketing initiatives as
we continue to build our business. We have always said that Harvest
has the right commodity, in the right place and at the right time;
this has proven to be highly prophetic."
Full Details
In order to better understand the significant benefits of using
KPFértil and on the best methodologies to apply the product,
Harvest has been conducting a wide variety of agronomic trials on
many different crops since 2016. The latest agronomic results are
from test work started in 2018 under the supervision of the
Associação dos Cafeicultores de Araguari (ACA) and were carried out
at their Campo Experimental Izidoro Bronzi. This site was developed
in August 2009 in partnership with the Procafé Foundation, Ministry
of Agriculture, University of Uberaba and the Brazilian Coffee
Research and Development Consortium to promote research into the
various areas of coffee growing, focussing on irrigation works,
nutritional treatments, phytosanitary and cultural treatments, in
addition to genetic improvement and coffee quality.
Figure 1: The KPFértil trial area at Campo Experimental Izidoro
Bronzi.
Method
In total, four lines of immature coffee plants (Acauã Novo) were
planted. The first line comprising 201 plants was treated with
standard chemical fertiliser, whereas the other three comprising
203, 208 and 207 plants respectively, were treated with
KPFértil.
Application
-- The ground was treated with Ammonium sulphate and urea to
provide adequate levels of nitrogen and sulphur
-- The first line (standard treatment) was treated with 500kg/ha
of Yoorin Master (70kg/ha P(2) O(5) ) and 200kg/ha of simple super
phosphate (SSP) SuperPhosphate (42kg/ha P(2) O(5) ) for a total of
112kg/ha P(2) O(5) and 108Kg/ha of Muriate of Potash (MOP)
containing 65.9kg/ha of K(2) O
-- The three KPFértil lines were treated with 3,295kg of
KPFértil for a total 112kg/ha of P(2) O(5) and 65.0kg/ha of K(2)
O
-- In addition, the first line (standard treatment) was given an
additional 100kg/ha of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) containing 54
kg/ha of P(2) O(5) after six months, 10 and 12 months and 100kg/ha
of SSP containing 38kg/ha of P(2) O(5)
After every six months, a series of biometric measurements were
taken comprising the number of internodes (nodes develop into
leaves or branches), branch length, plant height, number of
branches, diameter of canopy (the total area covered by the above
ground portion of the plant) and the diameter of the stalk.
Results
After the first six months, the average biometric results (Table
1) show that, with the exception of the stalk diameter, the coffee
plants were responding better during this key initial period of
growth to KPFértil than to the combination of traditional
fertilisers while the plant nodes (where leaves or branches will
grow) are still developing.
Diameter
Branch Number of Diameter
Number Length Plant Height of Canopy of
Treatment Internodes (cm) (cm) Branches (cm) Stalk (cm)
Conventional 5.2 14.1 24.9 5 34.1 0.83
------------ -------- ------------- ---------- --------- ------------
KPFértil 5.2 14.4 28.1 5.1 39.9 0.78
------------ -------- ------------- ---------- --------- ------------
% Change 0.00% 2.13% 12.85% 2.00% 17.01% -6.02%
------------ -------- ------------- ---------- --------- ------------
Table 1: Average Biometric Results after six months
After the first six months, the ACA agronomist decided to apply
additional phosphate in the form of MAP and SSP every two months to
the conventional treatment, to replace nutrients that had been lost
due to leaching. However, as KPFértil loses very little nutrients
due to leaching, no additional KPFértil was applied.
Despite this, the results after twelve months show that the
plants treated with KPFértil showed much better growth including
stalk diameter with on average a 19.63% increase in the number of
internodes, 12.56% increase in branch length and a 4.74% increase
in the number of branches. As these all directly impact the
development of coffee cherries, by extrapolating out these results,
a grower would expect a significant increase in coffee yield
compared to conventional fertilisers.
Number Branch Length Plant Height Number of Diameter of Diameter of
Treatment Internodes (cm) (cm) Branches Canopy (cm) Stalk (cm)
Conventional 10.7 39 68.4 23.2 46.3 17.3
--------------- --------------- ---------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
KPFértil 12.8 43.9 68.9 24.3 52.1 18.1
--------------- --------------- ---------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
% 19.63% 12.56% 0.73% 4.74% 12.53% 4.62%
--------------- --------------- ---------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Table 2: Average Biometric Results after 12 months
Next Steps
These are long term trials and are expected to be continued over
a number of years. During the dry period, a second application of
KPFértil and conventional fertilisers was applied to their
respective lines and after another six-month period the next set of
biometric measurements will be taken.
The ACA regularly hold field days to demonstrate the research it
is conducting, and Harvest Minerals attended the latest event on
the 14 September 2019 entitled "The Life of Soil" to discuss the
benefits of KPFértil to the attendees.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014
*S*
For further information, please visit www.harvestminerals.net or
contact:
Harvest Minerals Limited Brian McMaster Tel: +44 (0) 20 7317
(Chairman) 6629
Dr Mark Heyhoe
(COO)
Strand Hanson Limited James Spinney Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409
Nominated & Financial Adviser Ritchie Balmer 3494
Jack Botros
Shard Capital Partners Damon Heath Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186
Broker 9900
St Brides Partners Ltd Isabel de Salis Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
Financial PR 1177
Notes
Harvest Minerals Limited (HMI.L) is an AIM-quoted low-cost and
high margin Brazilian fertiliser producer, located in the heart of
the largest and fastest growing fertilizer market in Brazil.
Our product, KPFértil, is a registered and approved organic
multi-nutrient direct application fertiliser. It contains many of
the essential nutrients and minerals required by plants and, unlike
most fertilisers, it does not require any complex processing or
chemically alteration, instead it can be applied directly to
crops.
KPFértil is produced at the wholly owned Arapua project, that
consists of a fully permitted mine, production and storage
facilities able to produce and deliver KPFértil to customers. Known
mineralisation at the Project is expected to support 100+ years'
production at 450Ktpa.
Our focus now remains on growing our business and we have the
dedicated in-country sales and marketing team with the skills,
experience and contacts to sell KPFértil into the potential
multi-Mtpa market on the doorstep of the Project.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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