PHC Enjoys Growing Success in Africa

Jan 05, 2017: Raleigh, NC – Plant Health Care (AIM: PHC) a leading provider of novel patent-protected biological products to global agriculture markets, continues to build on its success in South Africa with its Harpin αβ and Myconate technologies and is preparing to expand into additional African countries.

ProAct and Messenger products, containing Harpin αβ, activate plant metabolism resulting in increased marketable yields, higher quality produce, increased stress tolerance and improved nutrient uptake.  Myconate promotes colonization of plant roots by beneficial soil mycorrhizal fungi leading to improved early growth, better nutrient uptake and increased yield.

DuxAgri, a young innovative South African agriculture company, is the exclusive distributer for PHC in sub-Sahara Africa. Charlie Bender, Managing Director of DuxAgri, says they are excited to develop the technology further into Africa as the harsh African climate is well suited for these innovative products. Charlie commented, “Our first success was with ProAct on maize and soybeans in the center part of South Africa where sales grew quickly through word of mouth because of its incredible response on reducing stress and increasing yields”.

Sugarcane is the next target crop where the PHC technologies have already demonstrated increased crop profitability by delivering not only improved tons per hectare yield but also the percent sugar content. This success has led DuxAgri to now expand its operations outside of South Africa to 22 countries in Sub Sahara Africa, already achieving improved sugarcane profits in Swaziland and Zambia.

During 2015, it is believed the world record¹ for the highest “crack out” ratio found in Macadamia nuts was beaten by using PHC’s Harpin αβ. Using social media news quickly spread in the following year (2016) with DuxAgri estimating that 10% of the Macadamia area received applications of PHC’s product.

Following this initial success, the technology has now been deployed in additional crops such as vegetables, potatoes, citrus, pears and Macadamia nuts, where it is now increasingly used in combination with fungicides and foliar nutrients. The expansion of sales to these higher value crops, which receive multiple applications per year, has built significant momentum for PHC.

Rob Cannings, PHC’s Commercial Director EMEAA Region, comments “DuxAgri has been a great success in demonstrating the value Harpin and Myconate based products bring to the agricultural industry and the commercial benefits to the grower. We are committed to expand distribution of our technology, building on the successes in Africa and elsewhere in the Region.”

For further information please contact: Plant Health Care, plc
Robert Cannings, Commercial Director, EMEAA Region +44 118 907 9225

DuxAgri (Pty) Ltd
Charlie Bender, Managing Director +27 83 543 9810

About Plant Health Care, plc: Plant Health Care, plc is a leading provider of novel patent-protected biological products to global agriculture markets. The Company’s ordinary shares have been quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) of the London Stock Exchange since July 2004. Plant Health Care has global reach through operating subsidiaries and supply agreements with major industry partners. For more information, please visit www.planthealthcare.com.

About DuxAgri (Pty) Ltd: DuxAgri is an innovative company utilizing novel patented technology to help advance agricultural production in all major crops.  Using a naturally derived range of technologies we have the ability to modify how plants grow, for the better. For more information, please visit http://www.duxagri.com/, https://www.facebook.com/DuxAgri/ or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqIndBAvbryaLC_aoV2-n1w

¹For more information, see South African Macadamia farmers break world records