After seeing his family struggle for many years with ineffective production systems, Shane Fitzgerald was inspired to find new solutions to improve soil performance and manage plant disease.

With a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science, the Lockyer Valley agronomist researched numerous projects and scientific trials in biological farming techniques, with some of his landmark findings published in the Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture.

His research led the team at Metagen to create DIGESTOR, a soil treatment which reduces reliance on chemical inputs such as nitrogen and phosphorus by significantly improving the efficiency of resources already present in the soil. It specifically stimulates indigenous soil biology, increasing the activity of microbes responsible for nitrogen fixation, cycling and phosphorus solubilisation.

“These changes in soil health also benefit plants in many other ways, such as increases in disease suppression and water-use efficiency,” he said.

“Our team has worked hard to create DIGESTOR, which is microbially formulated to improve crop and soil health, yield and production quality. The soil health systems we applied in horticulture and sugar, are now being applied to cropping, which is an exciting advancement.”

Mr Fitzgerald said DIGESTOR made it possible to supply crops with adequate nitrogen by leveraging existing soil resources, which was a game-changer given nitrogen fertiliser was a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

“Improvements in soil health and stimulation of beneficial microbes significantly improve nitrogen and phosphorus availability, reducing the need for fertiliser,” he explained. 

“Our solution will help growers to increase the natural abundance of nitrogen, while maintaining production levels.”

He joined the GroundUp program to get the product in front of industry bodies and learn more about marketing, sales and the potential to export DIGESTOR. 

Learn more about Metagen here.