Fertilizer International 515 Jul-Aug 2023
31 July 2023
Biostimulants come of age
MARKET ANALYSIS
Biostimulants come of age
There is growing acceptance and integration of biostimulants into the wider fertilizer and agricultural markets. This is illustrated by rocketing sales, the spate of new product launches, and merger and acquisition activity.
Biostimulants cover a diverse range of products designed to improve nutrient use efficiency and protect crops from abiotic stress. Growers generally purchase biostimulant products to improve crop yields and/or crop quality.
The main types of biostimulant (Table 1) include:
- Seaweed and other plant extracts
- Humic and fulvic acids
- Inorganic salts such as phosphites
- Chitin and chitosan
- Anti-transpirants
- Amino acids and peptides.
Many biostimulants are sourced from previously discarded industrial wastes, including sewage sludge, crustacean shells, and animal by-products.
Most crop inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers are generally classified by their composition and function. Biostimulants are different. These products – due to the enormous variability in their chemical composition and physical properties – are defined solely by their function (Fertilizer International 493, p20).
Yet even defining the primary function of biostimulants has not been easy. The European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC), for example, carried out a year-long consultation before agreeing on the following functional definition:
“A plant biostimulant means a material which contains substance(s) and/or microorganisms whose function when applied to plants or the rhizosphere [soil] is to stimulate natural processes to benefit nutrient uptake, nutrient efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, and/or crop quality, independently of its nutrient content.”
EBIC has argued for this practical definition because, in its view, this corresponds most closely to manufacturer claims about how biostimulants function and how growers view biostimulant products.
Importantly – as the EBIC definition suggests – the main function of biostimulants, despite their enhancing effects, is not to act directly as either pesticides or fertilizers. This distinction means that biostimulants have generally fallen outside of regulation or have been regulated differently to other agricultural inputs.
Interest in biostimulants has increased significantly over the last decade. To the extent that their use is now well established in higher value crops such as fruits, vegetables and potatoes. Increasingly, they are also being considered for broad acre crops – such as winter cereals and oilseed rape in the UK and Europe – although uptake remains limited (Fertilizer International 493, p20).
Previously, a lack of consensus and the absence of an agreed definition has undoubtedly held back the regulation of the biostimulants sector globally, although this is now beginning to change.
Application
Biostimulants are generally applied in one of three ways1 :
- To crop leaves as a foliar spray
- To the soil – as a liquid (spray or via micro-irrigation) or in granular or powder form
- As a seed treatment.
Foliar applications predominate, accounting for around 70 percent of market sales by value, while seed treatments are the fastest growing of these three segments1 . As well as being sold as standalone formulations, biostimulants are also being incorporated within other products. It is becoming increasingly common for biostimulants to be added to commodity and speciality fertilizers and marketed as a functional ingredient.
Biostimulants need to be correctly formulated due to compatibility issues. Chitosan, for example, is incompatible with seaweed extracts and humic acids, as it will flocculate1 .
Market size and growth
The global market for biostimulants (including microbial biofertilizers) was estimated at $2.56 billion in 2021, according to a recent report by S&P Global1 . This compares to a market size of $2.32 billion in 2020 and $2.1 billion in 2019. The market is current growing at around 10 percent per annum.
Seaweed extracts make up the largest segment with a 40 percent market share equating to $935 million in 2021. Humic and fulvic acid products are the second largest market segment, being valued at around $843 million1 .
Biostimulant sales first began to take off in the early 2000s driven upwards by factors such as1 :
- The development of more-effective products
- The ability to file patents to protect proprietary innovations
- The entry of venture capital and other investors into the market
- Better knowledge among growers
- New legislation to improve grower confidence.
Last year’s record fertilizer prices, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also spurred demand – with some evidence suggesting farmers favoured biostimulants while cutting back on fertilizer expenditure. Whether this trend will continue as fertilizer prices fall remains to be seen.
Previously, lingering reputational doubts about biostimulants and, for some products, the paucity of evidence about their efficacy (Fertilizer International 493, p20) have acted as a drag anchor on the market. Especially when combined with a lack knowledge among both farmers and crop advisers about what is still an emerging product market.
ACADIAN PLANT HEALTH: CHANGING THE BIOSTIMULANT GAME
A global presence
Acadian Plant Health is a division of Acadian Seaplants Limited™ – the largest independent marine plant harvesting, cultivation, and extraction company in the world. Acadian is an international leader in biostimulants for both high-value and broad-acre crops. The company manufactures patented, science-based, innovative products with a focus on sustainability and regenerative agriculture.
With its patented seaweed technology – and its new corporate vision ‘Sea Beyond’ – Acadian is aiming to become a world-leading crop abiotic stress management company in the biostimulant sector. Its products are already applied to over 100 crop types in more than 80 countries worldwide.
R&D, sustainability and partnership
Acadian offers technological solutions for an agricultural production system already highly stressed by climate change. The company’s science-based approach and extensive research and development activities are delivering a complex array of biologically active compounds which are extracted from the sea. These products improve plant establishment and growth, as well as crop resilience, in the face of stressors such as drought, heat, cold, salinity.
When applied to plants in specific formulations, these extracts have the capacity to modify the physiological processes in plants in a way that enhances nutrient uptake and utilisation. These bioactive compounds use chelation to help plants attract and absorb nutrients in the soil. This enables growers to use fertilizers more effectively, since more nutrients end up in the plant.
Acadian Plant Health products behave as active ingredients that either function on their own or work in synergy with other crop inputs. In particular, they are designed to deliver long-term benefits from regenerative agricultural practices.
By simultaneously improving on-farm sustainability and boosting productivity, these products provide growers with a strong return-on-investment (ROI).
The company believes in the power of collaboration to accelerate agricultural sustainability and, consequently, is forging partnerships with leading agricultural industry businesses and innovators. Working closely with formulators, crop protection and fertilizer companies, Acadian’s aim is to unite the best of its product portfolio with the best conventional crop inputs. This ‘best of both worlds’ approach enables the company’s biostimulants to deliver stronger, high yielding crops in a sustainable manner.
Proven products
Acadian sums up its business ethos as follows:
“We believe what we must do as an industry is see beyond the current state of the agricultural inputs industry and offer solutions that provide high-value, crop productivity technology that shifts from a peripheral add-on to an essential component of sustainable agriculture. The world is changing, and we know things must change on a global basis.
“One company can’t do it alone. We must work together to advance sustainability for the benefit of plant and planet.”
“We believe it is possible to improve crop production management, while respecting the environment and society. We’re dedicated to driving breakthrough innovations and proven products in crop care and nutrition.”
Agronomic understanding is better for some biostimulant products than for others. Seaweed extracts are probably the most familiar biostimulant, as these algal products have been available on the market for many years. Phosphites are also relatively widely used and well-known to agronomists and growers2 .
While there is mounting evidence that many biostimulants can increase plant growth and yield (Fertilizer International 493, p20), definitive proof about other beneficial effects is often limited or incomplete (Table 2). Because of this, clear guidance on how to maximise benefits and achieve consistent results from biostimulants is generally necessary.
Regional consumption
Regionally, biostimulant consumption is segmented between the following four major end-markets1 :
- Europe, the largest regional market for biostimulants, accounting for 38 percent of global sales
- Then Asia-Pacific, the second largest market, with 27 percent of global sales
- Followed by Latin America with 20 percent of global sales
- And finally North America in fourth place, with 13 percent market share.
In Europe, three countries – Spain, Italy, and France – are leading the way on biostimulant production and use, reports S&P Global1 , with the region’s market dominance encouraging a strong biostimulants industry to flourish.
KIMITEC: A VISION BASED ON NATURAL PRODUCTIVITY
Kimitec, a Spanish-based multinational biotechnology company, first set out to offer natural alternatives to synthetic chemicals in agriculture more than 15 years ago – with a business model that places consumer health, respect for the environment and natural productivity at the heart of agricultural production. Now operating in over 90 countries, the company is dedicated to the research, development and marketing of biopesticides, biostimulants, prebiotics and probiotics for the farming industry.
Renowned product portfolio
Kimitec’s established global presence and strong market position is supported by leading products, such as:
- The biostimulants Bombardier® and Batallón®
- The rooting enhancer Rhyzo®
- The prebiotics Prebiota Ultra™ and Xtender Row Ultra™
- The pure and highly concentrated mycorrhizal gel inoculant Mycogel® .
The company is also about to introduce its first natural biomiticide to the market. This innovative product offers protection against a broad spectrum of spider mites. It will be registered initially in the US this year and then introduced in Mexico and Brazil in 2024.
Committed to research and innovation
With an R&D team of more than 80 people and research investment totalling more than e20 million since 2013, research and innovation are at the heart of Kimitec. The company runs its own individual R&D projects as well as participating in major collaborative projects. Notably, Kimitec is the only European biotechnology company to have been awarded five projects by the EU’s prestigious Horizon 2020 research programme.
Kimitec opened its MAAVi Innovation Centre® in 2019. This is Europe’s largest R&D centre for natural farming products – and one of the largest biotech centres for natural agriculture in the world. MAAVi – an abbreviation of ‘making a vision’ – was set up to help deliver on the company’s business ambitions, as set out in Kimitec’s vision statement: “We believe in a different way of producing food and we want to be the natural alternative to synthetic chemicals, without jeopardizing efficacy and productivity.”
MAAVi operates under an ‘open innovation’ model that promotes collaboration with people and organisations outside the company. This allows Kimitec to use the centre’s product discovery and development capabilities to help big producers and well-known agribusinesses produce more sustainable foods. For example, Bayer formed a global strategic partnership with Kimitec earlier this year for the discovery and commercialisation of crop protection and biostimulant products derived from natural sources. Last year, UPL’s Natural Plant Protection (NPP) business unit also introduced five new biostimulants developed at MAAVi to the American market.
Additionally, Kimitec has more than 55 of its own research projects in the pipeline currently. All of these are focused on developing natural, effective, productive and residue-free solutions to the main issues facing the global farming industry.
At the end of 2021, MAAVi launched its own artificial intelligence (AI) platform called LINNA® . The platform enables further research into natural molecules and compounds, only one percent of which are presently known, as well as accelerating the research process and extending this into animal and food production. LINNA® will improve Kimitec’s ability to develop natural solutions to major global agriculture challenges. This is particularly important in Europe and North America, where growers will increasingly require natural crop inputs in future, as set out by the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy and the US’s New Green Deal policies.
“Currently, it is estimated that almost half of the total market value of biostimulants in Europe is represented using biostimulants for row crops, including cereals, oilseeds, pulses, and fibre crops,” says S&P Global1 . “Around 30 percent of use is attributed to fruits and vegetables, and around 11 percent to turf and ornamentals.”
The US accounts for around three-quarters of North American biostimulant sales. Field crops are the largest US market for biostimulants. Around 50 percent of sales are targeted at soybeans. Maize and wheat combined are the next largest category, being responsible for another 20 percent of use. Biostimulants in the US also have a strong foothold in high-value vegetable crops – tomatoes, cucumbers, and potatoes – and the cultivation of wine grapes1 .
“Market growth is still hampered by the lack of overarching [US] biostimulant legislation. The need to register biostimulants under fertilizer legislation at state level makes it difficult for companies to easily register these products across states. Currently, several initiatives have been initiated to harmonize the registration approach,” reports S&P Global1 .
Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region for biostimulant sales. In China, usage has been aided by government policies favouring humic acid and microbial fertilizers. The country is already a major producer of seaweed extract and chitin1 .
Agricultural powerhouse Brazil dominates the Latin American biostimulant market. Market penetration is high with biostimulants being applied to around 44 percent of the total crop area. This is linked to the country’s routine use of microbial inoculants (biofertilizers) in large-scale soybean cultivation, together with the prevalence of high-value crops. Brazilian biostimulant sales are expected to rise – the switch to organic cultivation being one driver1 .
Usage by crop
Broadly speaking, the agricultural biostimulant market can be split into the following four categories on a crop basis1 :
- Row crops including cereals
- Fruit and vegetables
- Turf and ornamentals l Other crops.
Biostimulant consumption is divided evenly between the first two categories, with each accounting for around 40 percent of total market sales. Although application rates per hectare are lower for row crops and cereals – versus fruit and vegetables – their total acreage is much larger1 .
While yield improvements are likely to be a key motivating factor for the adoption of biostimulants, growers are also seeking crop quality gains. Quality characteristics (e.g., homogeneity, colour and size) are particularly crucial for fruits and vegetables as they affect the sales price of produce. Some biostimulants even claim to improve fruit setting, storage and handling characteristics1 .
The market penetration of biostimulants remains small in comparison with conventional crop nutrient and protection products. In Europe, for example, the largest regional biostimulants market, biostimulants are currently applied to just 0.3 percent of total agricultural land1 .
Organic farmers were early adopters of biostimulants, as most products, being derived from natural sources, qualify for organic certification.
“With the emphasis now on sustainability across the whole agricultural sector, the scope is increasing to promote biostimulants on non-organic crops, as part of integrated crop management, aiming at cutting back on the use of other chemical inputs, while increasing crop yield and quality,” comments S&P Global1 . “Therefore, there is huge potential for growth.”
Regulation – increasing harmonisation
The rapid growth in the biostimulants market has generally outpaced regulation of the sector. It is probably no coincidence that the EU is both the most well-regulated and the largest regional market for biostimulants. Products are covered by the 2019 EU fertilising products regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/1009). This entered into force in July last year and allows CE-marked biostimulants to be placed on the market. The regulation defines biostimulants as fertilising products and not plant protection products:
“A product stimulating plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content with the sole aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant or the plant rhizosphere:
(a) nutrient use efficiency
(b) tolerance to abiotic stress
(c) quality traits
(d) availability of confined nutrients in soil or rhizosphere.”
US market regulation, in contrast, is much more fragmented with crop inputs such as fertilizers generally being registered at state level. The 2018 Farm Bill did, however, introduce the following definition of biostimulants into federal legislation for the first time:
“A substance or micro-organism that, when applied to seeds, plants, or the rhizosphere, stimulates natural processes to enhance or benefit:
- nutrient uptake,
- nutrient efficiency,
- tolerance to abiotic stress,
- crop quality l or yield.”
More recently, the bipartisan Plant Biostimulant Act re-introduced to Congress in 2023 sought to:
- Amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to define what is a plant biostimulant and exclude it from being regulated under the Act.
- Require the US Environmental Agency to revise the existing Code of Federal regulations to include this new plant biostimulant definition
- Require the US Department of Agriculture to study how plant biostimulant products can contribute to soil health.
Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of US trade association The Fertilizer Institute, praised this legislative move: “The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) Biostimulants Council is thankful to Reps. Panetta and Baird for reintroducing this important legislation. This bill provides a critical definition for plant biostimulants which will help states establish a clear path to market for these important products and technologies, critical to a variety of growers.”
Biostimulant regulations applying in other countries include:
- In India, the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) of 1985
- In South Africa, the Fertilizer Regulation (2017)
- In Brazil, the Lei 6.894/1980 (LEI ORDINÁRIA)
- In Chile, the Ley 21-349.
Agreed standards for biostimulants are also now becoming available. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published a revised ISO 8157:2022 standard for ‘Fertilizers, soil conditioners and beneficial substances’ last year.
ROVENSA NEXT: ENABLING THE GREEN TRANSITION
Rovensa Next, the new global business unit established by Rovensa Group, is dedicated to creating biosolutions for agriculture. The company operates as a global network with 30 R&D excellence centres and laboratories, 14 production plants, and sales in more than 90 countries.
Integrated and diverse
Rovensa Next integrates ten individual Rovensa Group companies – Agrichembio, Agrotecnología, Idai Nature, Microquimica, MIP Agro, OGT, Oro Agri, Rodel, SDP, and Tradecorp. Bringing these companies together under one business unit has enabled Rovensa Next to create one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of bionutrition, biostimulant, biocontrol and bioenhancer products. This holistic portfolio offers:
- Solutions for integrated pest and disease management
- Minimisation of abiotic stress l Sustainable crop nutrient management
- Stimulation of natural plant processes l Crop quality enhancements.
Products are designed to meet growers’ needs by improving crop yields and performance. They are applicable to key crops, covering all phenological and growth stages from seed to shelf.
Stimulating natural plant processes
Rovensa Next, by promoting sustainable agriculture practices, is enabling the ‘green transition’ in agriculture. The company believes that biostimulants can provide a sustainable solution to the many challenges faced by growers, such as climate change, limited natural resources and biodiversity loss. This is due to their ability to help crops achieve their maximum potential by stimulating natural plant processes and improving:
- Nutrient use efficiency
- Tolerance to abiotic stress
- Crop quality traits
- The availability of nutrients locked within the soil or rhizosphere.
Local expertise and innovation
The location of Rovensa Next’s manufacturing plants allows the company to capitalise on local expertise and innovations. In Campinas, Brazil, for example, the company has developed a highly efficient biofertilizer that is sustainably sourced from a unique microbial fermentation process. The microorganisms delivered by this product results in a higher-quality harvest by increasing the nutrient uptake of crops.
In Kilcar, Ireland, meanwhile, Rovensa Next specialises in the sustainable harvesting and processing of seaweed through an exclusive and gentle extraction method. This preserves the plant stimulating compounds naturally present in fresh seaweed. Additionally, Rovensa Group’s recent acquisition of Cosmocel has increased its biostimulant expertise and global reach. This Mexican-based company is a leading player in the biostimulants market.
Biostimulants for all growth stages
Specific biostimulants within Rovensa Next’s portfolio target the individual requirements of each growth phase such as sowing, wake-up, flowering, fruit setting, fruit swell & development, ripening and shelf-life. The portfolio includes:
- lBiofertilizers: Azzofix, a microbial-based seed treatment, improves nutrient use efficiency and crop nutrient management. This liquid co-inoculant for corn and soybean contains Azospirillum brasilense, an atmospheric nitrogen-fixing and growth stimulating bacteria. Another example is Phos-Up. This biofertilizer is formulated with the bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens, known for its ability to re-solubilise and unlock phosphorus immobilised in the soil to promote plant growth.
- Microbial extracts: Biimore is a biostimulant derived from a sustainable plant fermentation process. Its high efficacy, when applied at ultra-low doses during the fruit swell and development stage, has been shown to increase fruit yield and fruit weight by up to 28 percent and 19 percent, respectively. It also improves other quality parameters such as size, sugar content and shelf-life. Notably, Biimore was one of the first biostimulants to be registered under the FPR in Europe.
- Humic biostimulants: One example is Turbo Root, a complete starter and root regeneration fertilizer. It contains humic and fulvic acids that stimulate fine root development, while enhancing the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the soil. It is recommended during the initial stages of vegetative growth and can also be applied whenever root regeneration is necessary.
- Seaweed extracts: Phylgreen, the company’s flagship seaweed extract, is a pure Ascophyllum nodosum biostimulant that reduces the severity of abiotic stress, so helping to maximise yields and profitability.
- Amino acids: Delfan Plus, a highly concentrated L-α free amino acid biostimulant, relieves abiotic stress when applied to crops. It is particularly effective in crops experiencing chemical or osmotic stress due to drought and salinity. Delfan Plus also improves nutrient uptake during co-application with fertilizers. Another example is Vegenergy Pro Q, a L-α free amino acids and potassium fertiliser. This is recommended for crops after fruit set until pre-harvest. It has a low salt index and is free of both nitrates and chlorides.
One of the main changes was the inclusion of the following specific description of biostimulants:
“[A] product that contains substance(s), microorganism(s), or mixtures thereof, that, when applied to seeds, plants, the rhizosphere, soil or other growth media, act to support a plant’s natural nutrition processes independently of the biostimulant’s nutrient content.”
While also noting that: “The plant biostimulant thereby improves nutrient availability, uptake or use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, availability of confined nutrients in the soil or rhizosphere, and consequent growth, development, quality or yield.”
In the EU, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) has published five guidance documents on biostimulant claims to support implementation of the fertilising products regulation. This includes documents on
- General principles (CEN/TS 17700-1:2022)
- Nutrient use efficiency (CEN/TS 17700-2:2022)
- Tolerance to abiotic stress (CEN/TS 17700-3:2022).
Leading companies
The biostimulants sector is populated by many longstanding small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). These have proliferated thanks to the low barriers to market entry – such as the absence of any registration requirements in many countries. Joining these SMEs are two new types of entrant attracted by predictions of strong global market growth1 :
- Firstly, large companies entering the top end of the market by buying biostimulant technologies or product lines through merger and acquisition (M&A) activity
- Secondly, small research companies.
Large agrochemical companies have a growing market presence – as they seek to build integrated product portfolios designed to increase crop yields. Their entry into the sector is a sensible strategy, given the overlap and common ground between biopesticides and biostimulants. Notable examples of M&A activity include1 :
- Corteva Agriscience’s buy-out of the Spanish biological crop protection supplier Symborg in 2022
- Syngenta’s purchase of the leading biologicals and biostimulants business Valagro in 2020
- UPL’s purchase of biostimulant company Arysta LifeScience in 2018.
Increasingly, major fertilizer producers are entering the market too, using M&A activity and/or partnerships to build comprehensive biostimulant product offerings.
Spain’s Grupo Fertiberia, for example, recently acquired Trichodex, a biotechnology company located in Seville. Founded in 1991, Trichodex manufactures products based on patented biological processes. These improve crop protection and boost profitability by using microorganisms to produce ‘bioactive’ compounds. The company currently markets its biotech products in a dozen countries in Europe and Latin America.
The purchase of Trichodex is part of Fertiberia’s strategy to offer high added-value biofertilizers and biostimulants as part its product portfolio. “The combination of Trichodex biotechnology with the development of innovative products from Grupo Fertiberia will provide farmers with cutting-edge sustainable tools to improve their crops,” commented Javier Goñi, president of Grupo Fertiberia.
Fertilizer producer ICL and biotech company PlantArcBio have successfully collaborated on the development of a novel biostimulant. The new product uses RNAi technology to maximise the natural yield-increasing mechanisms of plants. It has been shown to successfully improve crop yields while having a minimal impact on the environment.
This biostimulant has significantly increased seed weight per hectare for canola crops in early-stage field trials. ICL and PlantArcBio are planning larger-scale field trials that will test the new biostimulant technology using both commercial sprayers and standard farming practices. Greenhouse trials for soybeans and rice are already in progress, with early results showing good potential.
ICL and PlantArcBio have already filed a joint patent for this biostimulant covering its application on multiple crops.
“The use of novel biostimulants based on RNAi technology helps promote sustainability, by reducing the use of chemicals in agriculture,” said Hadar Sutovsky, ICL’s VP for external innovation and the general manager of ICL Planet. “[it] does its work, then rapidly disappears from both the plants and the environment, lasting no more than a few days, as it is highly biodegradable and also leaves no residual footprint.”
“The positive canola field trial results constitute another milestone in strengthening PlantArcBio’s capabilities in the development of RNAi-based products,” said Dror Shalitin, the founder and CEO of PlantArcBio. “ICL, a market leader in crop nutrition products, is a great strategic partner for us to commercialize this sustainable technology worldwide.”
A selection of leading biostimulant companies is shown in Figure 1.
Product spotlight
A plethora of new biostimulant products are being brought to market every year. Two products, in particular, were showcased by exhibitors ADM and Monband at the International Fertilizer Association’s annual conference in Prague in May – the largest and most prestigious event on the fertilizer industry calendar.
Monband’s new MBT Puli-Nano 15+2 liquid biostimulant contains a mixture of humic and fulvic acids, plus polysaccharides and various amino acids, with the following overall composition and characteristics:
- Nano grade suspension
- Containing 15 percent humic acid plus two percent fulvic acid
- 17 percent total humic extracts
- pH of 6.5-7.5 l Black liquid
- 12 percent organic matter
- Seven percent organic carbon
- Easy to handle and apply.
This liquid was developed for fertigation in open field crops and soil injection – and is suitable for vegetables, fruit trees, banana, potato and flowers. It is designed to stimulate crop parts, both above and below ground, and promote root and shoot growth and budding. MBT Puli-Nano 15+2 is also recommended as a soil improver due to its ability to:
- Adjust soil pH
- Ameliorate soil salinity
- Improve soil microbial activity, physical and chemical properties
- Improve soil structure and water retention.
The product also increases nutrient use efficiency and reduces nutrient leaching. It is compatible with most fertilizers and pesticides.
In summary, MBT Puli-Nano 15+2 offers four key benefits to growers:
- Nutrient use efficiency (NUE): MBT improves NUE by supporting better root development – so enabling plants to absorb more nutrients and water – and/or by improving the soil availability of nutrients.
- Crop quality. By encouraging more vigorous and healthy plants, MBT improves both crop quality and yield quantity. Improved nutrient uptake, in turn, reduces nutrient losses and delivers sustainable profits to growers.
- Soil health. MBT improves soil health and long-term fertility by having a positive effect on water use efficiency and soil restoration.
- Resistance/tolerance to climate change. MBT can enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and extreme temperatures.
ADM’s NeoVita™ 43 is a novel biostimulant that has been shown to improve corn yields. It promotes nutrient availability and uptake in corn by mimicking plant root exudates (organic substances secreted by the plant) that support soil microbes. Applications stimulate microbial activity, increase nutrient use efficiency and enhance plant vigour.
Multiyear trials at the University of Illinois found that NeoVita 43 increased corn yields by up to 440 kg/ha when combined with a liquid fertilizer starter, versus the starter alone. This yield boost is achieved at a suggested retail price of less than $20/ha, making the product one of the most effective crop inputs on the market, according to ADM.
The product can be applied in-furrow with a liquid starter fertilizer at planting (at a rate of 10 litres per hectare) and does not require additional mixing or special handling. It is available as a ready mixed solution and is compatible with 10-34-0 starter fertilizers. For farmers already using in-furrow treatments in cornfields at planting, NeoVita 43 provides an easy way to boost yields, optimise nutrient use efficiency and improve fertilizer return on investment (ROI), says ADM.
Biostimulant effectiveness
New evidence on the efficacy of biostimulants was revealed in systematic global review published last year3 . This analysed the results of 180 field trials worldwide.
Yield gains from biostimulants applied in open-field agriculture were evaluated for the following categories:
- Biostimulant type
- Application method
- Crop type
- Climate conditions
- Soil properties.
Results show that applying biostimulants to crops delivers an average yield benefit of 17.9 percent. Plant extracts, including seaweed extracts, were the best performing biostimulant category with an average yield increase of 26.6 percent. Phosphites, in contrast, delivered the smallest yield gains (+8.6%).
Soil-applied biostimulants delivered yield benefits about 10 percent higher than foliar and seed applications. The researcher found this a surprising outcome, given that foliar and seed applications, by delivering biostimulants directly to the plant, should promote faster uptake of bioactive ingredients.
Biostimulant effects were most positive in arid and desert climates. Overall, water availability was as a critical factor governing effectiveness, with yield gains showing a clear negative trend with increased precipitation.
Biostimulants were also most effective in soils that are sandy, saline, nutrient-deficient with low organic matter content and a non-neutral pH.
When biostimulant effectiveness was compared across different crop types, vegetables showed the highest yield benefit (+22.8%) and roots/tubers the lowest (+10.6%). Legumes also responded more significantly to biostimulant applications than fruits, cereals, and other crops.
“Biostimulants improve crop yield by reducing yield reductions under stress conditions,” the researchers conclude3 . “This approach can help improve food security for the growing world population under increasing climate change threat.”
References
