Saskatoon, SK, Canada
February 1, 2022

Insight Plant HealthCorp.,a Saskatoon-basedagricultural service lab,islaunching a 3 year effort to evaluate nitrogen-fixinginoculants for fenugreek. With support from theSaskatchewan Pulse Growers and the Agriculture Development Fund,which isfunded by federal, provincial and territorial governments through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Insight Plant Health willevaluate globally available commercial inoculants and promising research strains for their ability to fix nitrogen in Saskatchewan-grownfenugreek varieties.

"Saskatchewan Pulse Growers is excited to invest in research into fenugreek as it fits with our strategic direction to develop and adopt newpulsecrops for growers in Saskatchewan,"says Sherrilyn Phelps, Director of R&D at Saskatchewan Pulse Growers."Nitrogen fixation isan important consideration for pulsecrops, so research that helps identify a suitable rhizobial inoculant willhelpreduce the reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, as wellasincrease the sustainabilityof rotations where it is included."

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is a small-seeded annual legume grown worldwide. The seeds and leaves are processed in various ways for end uses as a spice,herb,vegetable, forage or industrial colloid.Like other legumes, fenugreek has the ability to fix nitrogen through symbiosis withcertain rhizobialbacteria.
Because fenugreek is a relatively new cropin Canada withlimited acreage, there hasn't been a focused effort to evaluate and compare the efficacy of different inoculants for the crop.Emerald Seed Products, the province's largest fenugreek processor, sees the promise of Improving nitrogen fixation. "Having an effective fenugreek inoculant willhelpour farmers savemoney by reducing fertilizer ratesand it willmake growing fenugreek moreenvironmentally sustainable," explains Emerald Seed Products CEO, Nathan Sudom.

Insight Plant Health will test the inoculants at their lab and plant growth facilities in Saskatoon. The harvested material willbe evaluated for the amount of nitrogen supplied by the inoculant at the University of Saskatchewan through a collaboration with Dr.DianeKnight,a professor in the Department of SollScience. The initial focus willbe oncommercially available inoculants. "If we can findan off-the-shelf solution, it makes it easier for everyone" says Dave Greenshields, Insight Plant Health's President and project lead. "Thenit becomes a matter of getting the right registrations in place and importing a readymade product rather thantrying to grow,formulate, and package a new strain for a limitednumber of acres."

The results of the work willbe shared publicly to allow the fenugreek industry to make decisions about whether to pursuenew registrations for existing products or to develop a new product entirely."Biological product testing and development is what we're all about at Insight," saysGreenshields. "We're very excited to be ableto partner withtheMinistry, PulseGrowers and the University to put new toolsintothe hands of farmers in Saskatchewan."

About Insight Plant Health
Insight Plant Health isan agricultural service lab basedin Saskatoon, Canada, that provides fast and efficient solutions to the plant healthproblems of other agri-businesses.Withservices ranging from product testing and development to contract research and consulting, Insight Plant Health specializes in biological products for broadacre agriculture. Visit www.lnsightplanthealth.com for moreinformation.

Website: https://www.insightplanthealth.com/

Published: February 2, 2022