Plant biostimulants: Benefits in agriculture

The world’s population is about 7.6 billion and researchers have estimated a total of 9.1 billion world population by 2050 (FAO, 2018). In a study by du Jadin (2015), a growing population means more demand for food among other resources and in an attempt to provide safe, sufficient and nutritious food for everyone, agricultural production would have to increase by at least 70%. Even though this might be a cliché for most literates, it is vital to mention.

Amid climate change, some agricultural innovations such as fertilizers may not necessarily help farmers in improving the yield and quality of their produce. The application of mineral fertilizers is an effective method of supplying crops with nutrients.

However, these fertilizers may not function as expected under abiotic stresses such as drought (water stress), waterlogging and extreme temperatures (du Jardin, 2015). Organic fertilizers, on the other hand, have the disadvantage of not supplying crops with nutrients in an easily absorbable form when needed by crops. Nevertheless, plant biostimulants support, improve and sustain plant growth even under abiotic stresses.

Agricultural biostimulants, mostly humic acids and seaweed extracts are diverse formulations of compounds, substances and micro-organisms (other than fertilizers) that apply to plants or soils to improve crop vigour, yield, quality and tolerance to abiotic stresses (du Jardin, 2015).

Biostimulants being hormone-containing compounds, have identifiable levels of active plant growth substances such as auxins and have proven to foster plant growth and development throughout the crop life cycle from seed germination to plant maturity.

According to Halpern et al. (2015), plant biostimulants are particularly useful in improving the efficiency of plants’ metabolism, increasing nutrient assimilation, improving water use and efficiency, as well as enhancing soil fertility. It is important to note that crop biostimulation is complementary to crop nutrition and protection and does not replace traditional crop inputs (Drobek, Fr?c, & Cybulska, 2019).

Yara as a crop nutrition company understands the essence of biostimulation and has integrated this unique agricultural innovation in solutions provided to farmers. Yara’s BIOTRYG technology improves nutrient use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress and crop quality (Yara, 2017).

This technology complements Yara’s complete range of high quality and innovative crop nutrition solutions. Now instead of having just well-formulated fertilizer, farmers have the option of using well-formulated fertilizers produced with biostimulants. For farmers around the world, this means high and quality yields can be attained even when there is water stress or waterlogging.

Biostimulation is just one of the many ways of adapting to climate change. However, introducing biostimulants into fertilizers (having the 4R nutrient stewardship in mind) like in the case of Yara can help feed the world and protect the planet.

References

Drobek, M., Fr?c, M., & Cybulska, J. (2019). Plant biostimulants: Importance of the quality and yield of horticultural crops and the improvement of plant tolerance to abiotic stress-a review. Agronomy, 9(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9060335

du Jardin, P. (2015). Plant biostimulants: Definition, concept, main categories and regulation. Scientia Horticulturae, 196, 4–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.021

FAO. (2018). The future of food and agriculture: Alternative pathways to 2050. Rome.

Halpern, M., Bar-Tal, A., Ofek, M., Minz, D., Muller, T., & Yermiyahu, U. (2015). The Use of Biostimulants for Enhancing Nutrient Uptake. In Advances in Agronomy (Vol. 130). https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2014.10.001

Yara. (2017). Yara Fertilizer Industry Handbook. Oslo.