Mikro-Tek Inc.
Mikro-Tek is an environmental biotechnology firm which produces
a range of naturally-occurring soil micro-organisms called
mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi reduce the need for chemicals
and fertilizers and provide a natural, biological means of
improving survival, growth rate and health of plants by increasing the plant's resistance to stress and soil-borne pathogens. Our target markets include forestry, agriculture and land reclamation.
Under normal conditions, adequate mycorrhizae occur naturally. However, many industrial sites such as forestry cutovers, heavily used agricultural soils, nutrient-poor mine waste materials, or sites where natural topsoil has been over used, disturbed or eroded away, are deficient. In these cases, specifically chosen micro-organisms are reintroduced to the soil to enhance the health and growth rates of the target plant community.
Research has shown that the type and amount of benefit to a plant depends on the species and strain of mycorrhizal fungi that infect it. There are literally thousands of species, some showing little or no benefit to the plant, often referred to as weed species. Beneficial strains of mycorrhizal fungi establish a symbiotic association with the plant, providing it with an expanded root zone to help it access more water and nutrients from the soil. Mikro-Tek isolates these species from plant communities that have naturally adapted to the soil and climatic conditions of specific sites. They are then cultured, mass-produced, and inoculated onto the seedling's root zone in the nursery before out-planting, or directly into the seeding bed at the time of planting, to ensure establishment before the plants exposure to pathogens, environmental stresses, poor soil conditions, and competing non-beneficial mycorrhizal fungi.
In the Canadian Boreal forest, growth data from ten million conifer seedlings showed average growth and survival increases of 25% due to mycorrhizal inoculation. This data was used to register our commercial products with Agriculture Canada. Trials in Chile, with one million inoculated seedlings, showed average first year growth and survival increases of 47% for Eucalyptus, 85% for Radiata Pine, and 119% for Quillay (a native species). These growth increases carry corresponding increases in carbon sequestration. Through photosynthesis plants remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, produce oxygen, and store the carbon as biomass. Since 50% of the dry matter of a plant is carbon, any increase in plant growth results in a corresponding increase in CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere. Mikro-Tek has now developed a new investment vehicle called C-Trade, to help industry meet their greenhouse gas reduction commitments. Large Final Emitters have the opportunity to invest in a pool of our aggregated sequestration projects to offset their industrial carbon emissions.
Company Details
Year Established:
1983
Number of Employees:
6
Company Information
Marilyn Wood
Title:
Chief Executive Officer
Area of Responsibility:
Management Executive
Telephone:
(705) 268-3536
Fax:
(705) 268-7411
Email:
Click Here
Mark Kean
Title:
President
Area of Responsibility:
Management Executive
Telephone:
(705) 268-3536
Fax:
(705) 268-7411
Email:
Click Here
Products
Mycorrhizal Inoculum
Environmental Products And Services
Inoculation With Naturally Occurring Symbiotic Microorganisms
Inoculation with naturally occurring symbiotic microorganisms such as Frankia for nitrogen fixation and mycorrhizal fungi for essential mineral and water uptake and root protection will enable revegetation of harsh sites.
Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (VAM) provide a natural, biological means of establishing and maintaining plant vigor while reducing the need for chemicals, fertilizers, and water.
Stock Quality Assessment of physiological condition including photosynthetic system and stress resistance can ensure that only vigorous stock is outplanted. Application of VAM inoculum as a seed coating for grasses will provide increased root growth and reduced need for fertilizers.
A plant's ability to survive and grow after planting is dependent on the symbiotic relationship it develops with beneficial soil inhabiting fungi, which colonize the plant's root tissue and form a structure referred to as mycorrhiza. Ninety percent of all plant species form mycorrhizal associations including fruit, vegetable and grain crops, floricultural crops, grasses, shrubs and trees. This symbiotic association increases the ability of a plant to capture nutrients and water by increasing the active areas of the feeder roots, and makes the plant more resistant to certain root diseases and stressful conditions such as drought or heat. By ensuring the proper mycorrhizal strains are made available, we also ensure that the host plants perform better over a range of site types while minimising their reliance on chemical additives such as fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides.
Under normal conditions, adequate mycorrhizal formation usually occurs naturally. However, many industrial sites such as forestry cutovers, heavily used agricultural soils, nutrient-poor mine waste materials and commercial nursery soil mixes, or sites where natural topsoil has been over used, disturbed or eroded away, are deficient in mycorrhizal fungi. In these cases, specifically chosen mycorrhizae and/or nitrogen fixing organisms are reintroduced to these soils to enhance the health and growth rates of the target plant community.
Mikro-Tek has developed several methods of mycorrhizal inoculation to suit various growing systems' Mikro-CONE is a liquid inoculum watered onto the roots of conifers through the standard fertilizer injector and spray systems in the seedling nursery. Agri-VAM and Mikro-VAM can be added as a loose material to the growing medium in horticultural nurseries, or as a seed coating for direct seeding applications. Mikro-Bead encapsulates the pure culture of inoculum into a small bead of peat moss and growth medium to protect and nourish the microbial culture during shipping, handling and inoculation. These methods ensure placement of a precise dose of viable inoculum in close proximity to the germinating seed, or to the roots of nursery stock at time of transplant.
Cultivation reduces soil nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium resulting in lower and lower yields. Chemical fertilizers represent a rising cost and their presence in irrigation run-off is under close environmental scrutiny. Unproductive farmland is often left abandoned and eroding. Reclamation, revegetation and the return to productivity of these degraded sites is becoming a global priority. The symbioses formed by vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (VAM) provide selected revegetation species with significant improvement in growth, stress tolerance, and protection against soil pathogens while reducing the need for chemical and fertilizer inputs.
Historically, evaluation of a tree seedling's quality was based mainly on physical appearance and size, although these are not necessarily accurate indicators. The main determinant of seedling performance is its physiological condition. This would include such factors as the status of the plant's photosynthetic system, and measurement of gas emissions given off by the plant when subjected to various stressors such as heat or handling. By assessing nursery stock prior to planting, plantation performance can be predicted and improved to meet the objectives of both the grower and the forester in keeping with the Crown Forests Sustainability Act. Stands established using more vigorous stock would result in an initial 2-3 year growth rate advantage that can be maintained over the life of the rotation. Mikro-Tek's Stock Quality Assessment procedures have been developed in collaboration with the Ontario Forestry Research Institute (OFRI) using a continually updated provincial database of test information to rate seedlings. This work brought Mikro-Tek and OFRI the joint honour of receiving the 1995 GOALS Award for Excellence in Laboratory Service.
Natural Plant Bio-systems.
Natural plant bio-systems such as floating cattail mats can be established in a single season for removal of ammonium nitrate.
Wastewater treatment problems associated with mine tailings containment, municipal waster water treatment (sewage) storm water runoff, farming, food processing and golf courses can all be addressed through the use of natural plant bio-systems to reduce the amount of industrial drainage requiring treatment. Selected plant species act as primary biofilters to reduce ground water discharge and leachate problems by filtering water from targeted areas and, through the process of evapotranspiration, removing it before it percolates through waste material.
Secondary biofilters intercept downstream run off from the waste site before it reaches local waterways. Wastewaters with high nutrient content, such as mining effluent ponds and farm runoff, undergo a biologically mediated nitrification process, leading to high levels of ammonium nitrate. Floating cattail mats, established in one season, can be used for ammonium nitrate removal. These cattail mats also have the ability to reduce concentrations of nickel and arsenic content of wastewater.
Mycorrhizal Inoculation Of Seedlings
Mycorrhizal inoculation of seedlings increases survival and/or growth by 20 to 30% with a corresponding increase in carbon sequestration.
Trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. Approximately 50% of the dry weight of wood is carbon, and this carbon is stored in the wood fibre for the life of the manufactured product produced in industrial processes. In commercial-scale demonstration projects established across Canada, mycorrhizal inoculation has resulted in an average 25% increase in forest growth, and therefore, a corresponding 25% increase in carbon sequestration.
Services
Environmental Consultant - Biological And Ecosystem Studies
Environmental Consultant - Field Sampling And Monitoring
Environmental Consultant - Laboratory Testing And Analysis
Environmental Consultant - Research
Environmental Consultant - Site Assessment
Environmental Consultant - Technology Brokerage
Environmental Consultant - Waste Treatment
Environmental Consultant - Silviculture And Other Forestry
Environmental Consultant - Erosion Control/Landslide Protection
Environmental Consultant - Mine Tailings
Environmental Consultant - Site/Land Reclamations
Environmental Consultant - Soil And Groundwater
Environmental Consultant - Stormwater Runoff
Environmental Consultant - Waste Handling-mine Tailings
Environmental Consultant - Waste Handling-bioremediation
Environmental Consultant - Recycling Plant-biomass
Carbon Emission Offsets, Carbon Credits
Mikro-Tek has now developed a new investment vehicle called C-Trade, to help industry meet their greenhouse gas reduction commitments. Large Final Emitters have the opportunity to invest in a pool of our aggregated sequestration projects to offset their industrial carbon emissions.
Mikro-Tek currently has assets totaling 1.5 MtCO2 from forestry sequestration projects: Reforestation projects in Canada totaling 16 million seedlings on 8,800 ha, and afforestation projects in Chile totaling 3 million seedlings on 2,400 ha, and we are in our second year of a three-year contract with Sustainable Development Technology Canada to expand that pool to include our projects in agricultural and land reclamation sectors.