The growth of biostimulants and how to prove its efficacy

Added on 28 September 2022

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The growth of biostimulants and how to prove its efficacy

Biostimulants are a rapidly growing new type of product that help improve a plant's natural processes. They can increase the resilience of crops against biotic and abiotic stress, act as a fertilizer or help improve the strength and quality of crops.

Tested under both protected and open field conditions, biostimulants have demonstrated favorable effects. They are effective at stimulating better crop growth and development, improving nutrient absorption and resistance to abiotic stress (such as cold, heat, drought, or flooding) and at enhancing harvest quality, and have other environmental and economic benefits.

Biostimulants can take microbial or non-microbial forms, such as:

Plant and algae extracts

Microorganisms and their derived extracts

Amino acids and hydrolyzed proteins

Humic substances or assimilated substances (such as humic acids, fulvic acids, or lignosulfonates)

Non-nutritive mineral substances

Biomolecules (such as enzymes, vitamins, or antioxidants)

As with any brand new category of products, regulators are working to establish clear standards regarding the claims made around biostimulants. In Europe, biostimulants are controlled under the fertilizer regulation, and under the EU Fertilizing Products Regulation (2019/1009) producers must demonstrate that their products have a justified plant biostimulant effect to place them on the market.