Combatting Salinity Stress in Crops with Indra: A Functional Fertiliser from Levity

Levity’s Solution to the Global Problem of Salinity Stress

Salinity stress is one of agriculture’s most urgent challenges—affecting over 20% of the world’s irrigated land. It silently reduces yields, damages soils, and threatens sustainability.

Levity Crop Science has developed Indra, a breakthrough functional fertiliser designed specifically to help crops overcome salinity stress. It’s a powerful solution for farmers dealing with low-quality irrigation water or salt-affected soils.

Salinity Hotspots:

• Southern Europe
• North Africa
• Southern Africa
• California, USA
• Australia

Salinity Stress: A Widespread Yield Killer

Salinity increases osmotic pressure, causes ion toxicity, and stimulates production of reactive oxygen species (ROS)—which damage plant cells and reduce productivity.

Introducing Indra: Levity’s Functional Fertiliser for Salinity Stress

Indra is a functional fertiliser that goes beyond nutrition. It enables plants to maintain normal metabolism under extreme salinity by:

• Stimulating antioxidant systems
• Boosting polyamine synthesis
• Activating anthocyanins
• Delivering vital micronutrients (Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, B)

Salinity is an known problem—farmers lose a predetermined amount of yield before the seed is even in the ground,” says the Levity research team. “Indra is proven to restore normal metabolism in a range of crops, with strong scientific data. The work on tomatoes showed plants could grow under salinity equivalent to 25% seawater.

Lancaster University Study (Weston, Marks, 2012)

In this foundational trial, tomato plants were irrigated with 10 dS/m water—equivalent to 25% seawater—and treated with Indra.

Results:

• Stomatal conductance and photosynthesis were fully restored
• Yield was recovered or exceeded under stress
• Sodium levels remained high, proving tolerance, not exclusion

Indra vs Control – Tomato Trial Results

Below are the results for tomato under severe salinity conditions:

Photosynthesis Rate (µmol m⁻² s⁻¹)

Stomatal Conductance (mol m⁻² s⁻¹)

Yield (kg per plant)

These graphs clearly demonstrate Indra’s superior performance under high salinity stress, helping restore plant function and yield.

“Protecting yield under salinity equivalent to 25% seawater is quite remarkable,” explains Dr. David Marks, Levity Crop Science. “Most crops suffer catastrophic losses at this level of salt exposure. Indra’s ability to fully restore photosynthesis and maintain yield proves its role as a breakthrough functional fertiliser. It doesn’t just reduce stress—it enables the plant to function as if the stress isn’t there.”

Levity Research Centre study (Dodgson, Marks, Weston, 2025)

Wheat Trials:

• Salt Stress (30 mM NaCl): Indra restored shoot mass and tiller development
• Drought Simulation (PEG): Indra boosted leaf and tiller count
• Indra is a multi-functional stress solution that performs across stress types and crops.

What If Indra Was Fully Adopted?

Here’s the potential impact of Indra adoption across the world’s salinity-affected tomato-growing regions:

Climate Benefit:

12.16 million tonnes of CO₂e saved (2.5 kg CO₂e per kg of tomato) – That’s the equivalent of taking over 2.6 million cars off the road for a year.

Indra and Sustainability

Indra delivers:

• Freshwater savings by enabling use of lower-quality water
• Reduced chemical input use through improved crop resilience
• Soil preservation by keeping marginal land productive
• Climate mitigation through yield recovery and emissions reduction

How to Use Indra

• Rate: 1 L/Ha
• Frequency: Monthly
• Application: Foliar or through irrigation

Indra is simple to use and fits into any commercial growing program.

Conclusion: Levity, Indra & The Future of Functional Fertilisers

Salinity stress doesn’t have to limit agriculture. With robust scientific backing, Levity’s Indra enables crops to thrive in salt-affected soils, improve resource use efficiency, and build climate-resilient food systems.

It’s more than a fertiliser—it’s the future of fertiliser.