EcoCover CropMat Shows Huge Yield Advantages
Massey University Agricultural Research Report Is In
June 16, 2006

 

EcoCover CropMat is a newly developed short lived biodegradable paper mulch mat made from waste paper. The intended primary use of CropMat is for mulching annual crops like vegetables.

Production trials indicate that CropMat will cost about the same as better grades of plastic film made from environmentally and economically unsustainable petroleum. As oil prices continue to rise, CropMat will be substantially less expensive than plastic mulch film.  EcoCover is a sustainable alternative.

A 6 month independent research project was just completed at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand, comparing the use of EcoCover, red EcoCover (colored on one side with an organic dye) and black plastic film for the field production of tomatoes and capsicums (peppers).

This was an organic trial, no chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides were used. Here are the results:

For tomatoes:

EcoCover outperformed plastic by increasing yields 29.4 percent.

For capsicums:

EcoCover outperformed black plastic by increasing yields 42.3 percent.

 

From an agricultural productivity perspective, these results are quite astounding. Imagine yourself as a tomato or pepper farmer being able to increase your income by 30 to 40 percent without any additional input costs? And, larger fruits bring the best prices when product is sold at fresh markets. So, not only are yields higher but you have more premium produce to sell.

 

An additional advantage of EcoCover is that unlike plastic film, EcoCover does not have to be removed from the soil, so there are no removal costs, no disposal costs, no incineration, no landfill. EcoCover biodegrades into the soil and adds a small amount of organic matter in the process. Earthworms and other soil micro organisms love EcoCover.

 

The details of the research will be online soon.

 

The world needs significant improvements in agricultural productivity to feed a growing population. Particularly in the United States, our corporate agribusiness agriculture, which has captured large markets due to cheap energy prices, is extremely dependent on fossil fuel based inputs which reveal that we are consuming nearly 10 calories of fossil fuels to produce 1 calorie of food. The average meal in the USA travels 1,500 miles to get to your dinner table. This is not sustainable, folks.

 

The future of agriculture is localization: locally produced food for the local community, like the good old days. The EcoCover manufacturing process has been designed with localization at the forefront, taking local waste paper that would typically go to landfill and manufacturing products that benefit local agriculture. The size of the plant and the volume of production will serve a local market profitably. In the time between now and localization, EcoCover is marketable everywhere, with the present premium market being organic farming and growing.

 

The replacement market for plastic film presently exceeds 30 million acres per year worldwide.

 

One EcoCover manufacturing plant will produce about 1,200 acres of EcoCover CropMat running two shifts, which translates into a future world market exceeding 11,000 manufacturing plants. If you are interested in a sustainable manufacturing opportunity producing organically certified products serving an essential industry with real growth ahead, the time to talk is now. The future is EcoCover.

If you are not aware of the need for sustainable products, read my friend Lester Brown's books Plan B 2.0 and Outgrowing the Earth available from Lester's web www.earth-policy.org.

Would it have been a good thing for you to be in on the ground floor with Microsoft or Wal Mart or Home Depot or General Electric? If you are interested in a sustainable manufacturing opportunity producing organically certified products serving an essential industry with real growth ahead, the time to talk is now.

Learn more about the EcoCover ground floor opportunity.  Please contact me today.