--- title: Enhance Fungicide Efficiency | Boost Yield With Plasma Strike description: Enhance your crop yield with Plasma Strike plasma-activated water as a fungicide carrier, delivering strong returns at minimal cost. image: https://go.plasmastrike.com.au/hubfs/paw-economics-table_3-1.png --- [![](https://go.plasmastrike.com.au/hubfs/logo_1.svg)](http://plasmastrike.com.au) # Swap water. Keep your fungicide. Add yield. In a 2025 corn trial at the independent Precision Technology Institute (PTI) in Illinois, replacing water with Plasma Strikes plasma activated water (PAW) as the spray carrier for a VT Miravis®Neo application returned +220 kg/ha at a carrier cost of AUD $0.31/ha.   Same fungicide. Same sprayer. Same rate. Different carrier.   [Talk to Our Team](https://7aypjv.share-ap1.hsforms.com/2Bz6sBtVXQQ2ocEMs4xbIiA) ![paw-economics-table\_3](https://go.plasmastrike.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/paw-economics-table_3.png?width=1290&height=666&name=paw-economics-table_3.png "paw-economics-table_3")   ## The Idea You're already putting water through the sprayer. PAW goes through the same sprayer, at the same rate, doing the same job — with an additional payload.  A fungicide pass carries the active ingredient to the canopy through water. PAW — plasma activated water, made on-farm from air, water and electricity — contains nitrate and nitrite, has a low pH, and appears to act as a penetration aid for the fungicide into the leaf structure. The 2025 PTI trial in Illinois ran at 18.7 L/ha carrier volume; the same principle applies at any sprayer's water rate.   PTI's researchers attribute the yield response to three things: the nitrogen PAW carries, its role as a potential penetration synergist for the fungicide, and its low pH on the leaf surface.  At AUD $0.03/L generated on-farm, carrier cost is trivial against any measurable fungicide ROI. The 2025 PTI trial shows the mechanism delivering yield. Same active, same rate, different carrier.     ## A $0.31 input against a $56 yield response. - **Yield gain** - Plasma Strike vs water carrier: +220 kg/ha - **Gross value of yield gain** (at US trial corn price) - $56.70/ha - **Carrier rate** - 18.7 L/ha - **Plasma Strike carrier cost** - $0.31/ha - **Net return** - $56.38/ha Trial commodity price USD $4.13/bu corn (USD $162.60/t). AUD conversion at 1 AUD = 0.63 USD. PAW generation cost basis: PTI's reported USD $0.04/Gal directly converted (= ~A$0.017/L AUD); actual Plasma Strike operating cost in Australian conditions is A$0.03/L. Australian crop economics will differ by crop, price, disease pressure and sprayer water rate.     ## Three things Plasma Strike does that water doesn't.  🧪  **Low pH leaf surface** PAW sits acidic. On the leaf surface this may aid the fungicide's control of leaf disease pathogens and shift the surface environment against fungal establishment.  🎯 **Penetration synergy** PAW appears to act as a carrier adjuvant, moving more of the active ingredient into the leaf structure rather than sitting on the surface. 🛡️ **Triggers the plant's own defences** Plasma Strike carries reactive nitrogen and oxygen species that peer-reviewed research shows can switch on the plant's natural disease-defence response.     ## By the way... not the first time we have seen this.   In 2025 we shared the below Fungicide/Plasma Strike Carrier trials from Becks Hybrids in the United States: ![Slide2-2](https://go.plasmastrike.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Slide2-2.jpg?width=1280&height=720&name=Slide2-2.jpg "Slide2-2")   ## And this one too: ![Slide1](https://go.plasmastrike.com.au/hubfs/Slide1.jpg "Slide1") [Click here to Download the Becks Data](https://go.plasmastrike.com.au/hubfs/Becks%20Trial%20Data/Becks%20Carrier%20Study.pdf?hsLang=en-au)   ## Need More Proof? The Plasma Strike fungicide carrier story isn't built on a single trial. Two of the largest US private-trial programs ran it in 2025, and a growing body of peer-reviewed research backs the mechanism: low pH and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species in plasma activated water enhance fungicide performance on the leaf. **Other studies:** - **Guo, J. et al. (2023)** — *Plasma-activated water for inactivation of Fusarium graminearum spores: An in-vitro wheat study.* Field-plot trial: PAW alone reduced wheat Fusarium head blight incidence, FHB index, and DON mycotoxin contamination. [sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0023643823003948](https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0023643823003948) - **Adhikari, B. et al. (2020)** — *Plasma-activated water triggers plant defence responses.* Reactive species in PAW switch on the plant's natural defence gene expression. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7644721/](https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7644721/) - **Rotondo, P. et al. (2025)** — *Plasma-activated fog for postharvest treatments to reduce spoilage by fungal pathogens.* Direct antifungal activity of PAW-derived treatments on commercial fruit. [link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40538-025-00865-0](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40538-025-00865-0) - **Jirešová, J. et al. (2022)** — *Effect of Plasma-Activated Water on Wheat Grain Properties.* Confirms PAW's active components (H₂O₂, HNO₂, HNO₃) and their measurable biological effect. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9183031/](https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9183031/) - **Ali, M. et al. (2021)** — *Effect of plasma activated water on fungicide degradation from tomato fruit.* Demonstrates PAW's chemical reactivity with fungicide molecules. [pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33636620/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33636620/) - **Suriyasak, C. et al. (2022)** — *Cold plasma and plasma-activated water in agriculture.* Review of 30+ field and lab studies across cereals, fruits and vegetables. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539132/](https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539132/)   ## Buy Today so you have Plasma Strike PAW stored up, ready for your first fungicide pass. [See all our Data](https://go.plasmastrike.com.au/plasma-strike-trial-data?hsLang=en-au) [Contact Us Today](https://7aypjv.share-ap1.hsforms.com/2yOnGFmW5QT-2WCqfRYj6uA) This discussion assesses whether Plasma Strike fits your current nitrogen program, cropping system, and logistics. [mailto:socials@plasmastrike.com.au](mailto:socials@plasmastrike.com.au) © 2025 AMLP Enterprises Pty Ltd. 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Replacing water with plasma-activated water as the carrier produced a yield gain of 3.5 bu/ac (220 kg/ha). Gross value of the yield gain was USD $14.46/ac (A$56.70/ha) against a carrier cost of USD $0.08/ac (A$0.31/ha) at a carrier rate of 2 gal/ac (18.7 L/ha), for a net return of USD $14.38/ac (A$56.38/ha). Source figures are US units and USD; Australian figures are converted equivalents. 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