Spinach growing in California
Biostimulants, synthetic or naturally occurring substances and/or microorganisms that stimulate different growth processes in plants, are becoming a fast-growing part of the agriculture input market, and a highly attractive business opportunity for major players in agroindustry. Yet some growers are still hesitant to take the plunge into biostimulants – plant responses are often inconsistent (as overall effect does not depend only on the product itself, but also on the plant, management practices and agroclimatic conditions), and precisely deciphering the involved mechanism of action remains highly intricate.
Farmers in different countries have used biostimulants for many years, starting with seaweeds. In fact, the use of seaweeds in agriculture dates back thousands of years; during ancient Roman times, plant seedlings were covered with algae to promote their growth. In the coastal area of Europe, farmers incorporated seaweeds in the soil or used it as a compost. Indeed, as the dominant category of the biostimulant segment, seaweed extracts were key in this growing renown, and they are widely known as substances with the function of mitigating abiotic stress and enhancing plant productivity. Today, in addition to seaweed extracts, biostimulants incorporate a diverse group of product technologies that includes microbial inoculants, biochemical materials, amino acids, humic acids, fulvic acids and more.
Biostimulants continue to gain traction in Europe, North America and other jurisdictions, as governing bodies work to develop legal definitions and regulatory frameworks. Yet grower hesitation remains.
According to Manel Cervera, international business director with DunhamTimmer, consistent return on investment and grower willingness to pay for a product they consider in many cases to be not essential are two clear indicators that limit biostimulant adoption as a standard management tool.
“This is especially true in more extensive row crops and lower value crops, where in many cases the optimal timing and/or application of biostimulants does not fit with current management practices, i.e., few or no foliar applications late in the growing season,” notes Cervera.
Current growth trends of biostimulants While both Europe and North American markets show good growth trends with biostimulants, DunhamTrimmer has observed some maturity symptoms in some countries in western Europe.
“Growth in absolute terms will continue in these two regions as very important and interesting markets,” notes Cervera. “Weather related stresses are becoming more common and the value of biostimulants in helping the crop tolerate these extremes will contribute to future growth. We also see synergy between precision ag technology with improved ability to monitor and detect crop stress earlier as benefiting timely application of biostimulant products.
“Central and eastern Europe will remain on a strong growth trajectory, particularly in the fruit and vegetable market in Poland, as the use of biostimulants did not begin to develop here until much later than western Europe,” adds Cervera.
DunhamTrimmer also posits that Latin America and Asia will be the faster growing regions in the near term with a lot of new market opportunities. As well, policy developments in China may help to support future development of the biostimulant market.
“We see southeast Asia expanding the use of biostimulants in tropical and plantation crops and also evaluating new uses in row crops,” says Cervera. “Meanwhile, in Latin America, Brazil will continue to dominate the region with intensive biostimulant use in horticultural crops as well as increasing use in some row crops such as soybeans and sugarcane. Use of biostimulants is also accelerating in Mexico which is the second largest country market in the region. Central American and Andean countries are expanding use in many plantation crops including bananas, coffee and pineapple.”
In the coastal area of Europe, farmers incorporated seaweeds in the soil or used it as a compost.
What can convince farmers? Despite these expected advancements, farmers are often not aware of the advantages that biostimulants can offer and have limited understanding on how to select the right product and how to apply it to for maximum benefit. Overall, it’s imperative users understand a biostimulant’s mode of action and adapt product uses to different agroclimatic and management practices.
According to the Biological Crop Protection team, including Drs. Rose Buitenhuis, Ana Pastrana, Qinglu Ying and David Liscombe, at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario, Canada, using biostimulants requires a preventative approach.
“Their efficacy often depends on factors like the environment, plant cultivar and production practices,” they note. “The best way to convince growers is to make them see the difference, for example through testing by independent research labs. It is also helpful if the company provides good support, for example through crop consultants and if the company has a good reputation. And definitely, more research is needed on innovative product development and application technologies.”
Vineland is currently testing and validating different biostimulant products for greenhouse vegetable production and production, mainly looking at their effects on crop productivity and resistance to abiotic stresses. Through metabolomics analysis, they are developing biomarkers that will reliably predict biostimulant efficacy. They are screening products to check their effect against plant diseases, and in a previous project, they also looked at the indirect effect of biostimulants on pest populations, through induced plant defenses.
"Weather related stresses are becoming more common and the value of biostimulants in helping the crop tolerate these extremes will contribute to future growth." Manel Cervera, DunhamTrimmer
Zheng Wang, vegetable crops and irrigation farm adviser with the University of California, agrees that unbiased data is the best way to convince growers to try biostimulants. “Also, if data are obtained from other successful/more experienced product users, the road to biostimulants might be better paved,” he says. “End users need a lot of guidance from selecting, using products, and interpretating crop responses, thereby they can gain experience and lessons to improve gradually. Selling products to a grower is not the end, even not a start.”
Wang and his team are testing and validating different biostimulant products for open-field vegetable production, mainly looking at their effects on crop productivity and fruit quality. Vegetable crops that he has researched include fresh market and processing tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, carrot, squash and watermelon. Current applied projects Wang is working on involved the use of seaweed- and microbe-containing biostimulants to enhance processing tomato and watermelon productivity and fruit quality.
Initially, biostimulants like seaweed extracts and humic acids were mostly used in organic production but now they are being adopted broadly in greenhouse vegetable and ornamental production, as well as nursery production. And newly legalized cannabis sectors have great interest in using biostimulants. This has helped with the diversity of biostimulant products now available.
In North America, “greenhouse growers and small-acre farmers are more apt to try biostimulants,” says Wang. “Greenhouse conditions are manipulated more easily and less complicated than open fields. Also, small farmers can have more time and more flexibility to try new things.”
Jarrett Chambers, president of ATP Nutrition, adds that in these high value crops, nutrient management is intense, and farmers are constantly tweaking nutrient management, and using biostimulants as a tool to drive that.
“I’ve been over to Europe 28 or 29 times now, and I’m still always so impressed. They are amazing at growing their crops; they manage the nutrients very scientifically, very strategically. Their nutrient management plans are incredibly sophisticated, and the way they’re driving their nutrient use efficiency is through biostimulants.”
End users need a lot of guidance from selecting, using products, and interpretating crop responses, thereby they can gain experience and lessons to improve gradually.
Broadacre challenges While biostimulant usage on high-value horticulture and greenhouse crops is somewhat secure, it’s the broadacre crops that many biostimulant marketers are looking to. To that end, certain types of biostimulants, for example fulvic acids, are quite common in broadacre crops in North America, notes the Vineland researchers.
“Convincing these farmers would require proof of concepts, word of mouth from fellow farmers, demonstration of the benefits, etc. Farmers can also try biostimulants on a small area before using it on their entire crop,” they say. “Eventually, increasing food demand and production challenges (land, environment, climate etc.), and the need for enhance yield and quality will direct farmers to try biostimulants. What is needed is that governments and regulatory agencies develop clear legal definitions and regulatory frameworks.”
Wang agrees. “The use of products has to be really target-driven, e.g., nitrogen use efficiency, drought resistance, fruit quality improvement or releasing salinity. Being specific is important. You cannot just say to growers that use of these products will enhance crop production in general.”
Many companies try to sell their biostimulants as a stand-alone product, yet they often have a difficult time succinctly and technically accurately explaining what their product does, or how it works.
Meanwhile, in Latin America, Brazil will continue to dominate the region with intensive biostimulant use in horticultural crops as well as increasing use in some row crops such as soybeans and sugarcane.
“People can’t get their head past that,” notes Chambers. I think we’re on a trajectory for a steep learning curve to understand biostimulants. At ATP Nutrition, we have taken a pretty strong initiative on education of biostimulants. But it is a slow process. What we’ve decided to do is try to position and sell biostimulants based off return on investment. We refer to it like this: what is the risk that you wish to take and invest in that ingredient?”
The ultimate questions is, at what price would you look at this product with a price point to treat an entire farm? Chambers thinks the price point as a standalone is a little bit more than what people are willing to take a risk on.
“Selling things that stand alone only work if we can work with their nutrient management plan, and we price it so the risk to them is modest,” says Chambers. “And hopefully a lot of upside reward.”
Biostimulants x nutrients = success? It’s been demonstrated that biostimulants do work, but their success requires a whole new way of talking with farmers about how they work and how they can enhance a total nutritional package. Chambers says companies need to lead with science, reduce the promises and fix the price so it’s easy for farmers to use and the risk associated with it is not too high relative to the reward, adding that that will take some clever marketing on the part of companies.
“Especially in North America, we need to get the big crop protection companies to work with the biostimulants to really start to understand the products and how they fall under their sustainability platform. Working with fertilizer companies is, in my opinion, the sleeping giant,” says Chambers. “It has to be easy to use, it’s got to work into their system, it can’t be priced as a full input, it has to be priced as an additive to support a well-balanced nutrient program. It’s got to be priced so that the risk that the grower takes is not too high.
So, as science supporting biostimulant knowledge advances, and with all development and extension service done by leading companies in the space, it’s expected more growers will adopt biostimulants in an increasing number of crops and agroclimatic conditions/management practices going forward.
“I think it’s going to be slow and sure growth – and it’s imperative to have the big nutrient companies and/or crop protection companies starting to talk a different language about the same topic. And that will have a big input on the future of biostimulants,” says Chambers. ●
What we’ve decided to do is try to position and sell biostimulants based off return on investment.
While sellers have been trying to demonstrate the efficacy of their biostimulant products, there has always been a debate in the background on how to define biostimulants. Two pieces of legislation have provided definitions, or draft definitions, both of which focus on the functions of a biostimulant rather than its composition.
In mid-2019, the European Union (EU) adopted Regulation No 2019/1009 – the new EU Fertilising Products Regulation (which comes into full regulatory force on 16 July 2022) – bringing clarity to the categorization of plant biostimulant products in terms of a definition. The regulation defines plant biostimulants as a fertilizing product that functions to stimulate plant nutrition processes independent from 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, or (d) availability of confined nutrients in
soil or rhizosphere. Helping this along is the European Biostimulant Industry Council (EBIC). Founded in 2011, EBIC promotes the contribution of plant biostimulants to make agriculture more sustainable and resilient and in doing so promotes the growth and development of the European biostimulant industry.
Slightly earlier on the timeline, the U.S. Farm Bill, signed into law in December 2018, was the first legislation to put out a definition, describing a plant biostimulant as “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, or crop quality and yield.” However, in the 2019 USDA Report on Plant Biostimulants, they provide two alternative definitions, so the 2018 definition is still in its draft stages. ●
Congratulations on your new role as CEO of Brandon Bioscience and Hebridean Seaweed. Perhaps we can begin by asking: what has been your career path to this point?
Thanks very much, I am very excited to take up the role of CEO of two fantastic companies. My career today has predominantly been in FMCG and the production and selling for various fruits and vegetables form pineapples in Panama, to carrots in the south of Ireland and even cacti in Arizona. I attended University College Dublin and studied agriculture science. I was lucky enough to then begin my career with Fyffes’s plc in central America. Here, I gained both career- and life-forming experiences. I started as a trainee manager on farms in Panama, Costa Rica and Honduras, developing my knowledge of large-scale agriculture production. I then returned to Europe where I took up a role with Total Produce plc as an agronomist and compliance technical manager. Eventually I migrated to commercial roles in the company, starting as an account manager on our Musgraves account and eventually finding myself in the position of a general manager of a Total Produce Ireland Retail division. I took up my current role in May of this year and it has been an exciting and challenging five months.
Many of our readers will be familiar with Brandon Bioscience, but obviously companies develop and evolve, so could you give a brief overview of Brandon Bioscience as it is today with a little bit of historical perspective of where it has come from?
Brandon Bioscience is a marine biotech company founded in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland in 1998. Over the past 23 years, Brandon Bioscience has built a solid reputation of scientific excellence. Together with our discovery partners, we have won and led a number of EU projects, and our research has been published in leading scientific journals. During this time, we developed a technology platform called PSITM that allows us to produce well-defined plant biostimulants and tools for their formulation and functionalization, yielding products with reliable biological activities and predictable results.
Before we get into the technology and products, can we have a few of the numbers?
In 2021 we became part of the Marigot Group along with the Hebridean Seaweed Company. With factories in Ireland and Scotland, we are the largest seaweed processor in the UK and Ireland, exporting 95 percent of what we produce to over 40 countries worldwide. We invest 10 percent of turnover in R&D and employ in excess of 50 people across both sites. Our company consists of teams of people who are responsible for the sustainable management and harvesting of seaweed, the research and development of the next generation of biostimulants, and the technical sales and support of these products. We work closely with an exclusive number of distributors who we have worked with for over 15 years in the key growing regions of the world.
Oliver Kiernan, CEO, Brandon Bioscience and Hebridean Seaweed
Before we start to talk about the company's pipeline, perhaps you can walk us through your PSI technology.
Our PSI technology platform leverages a science-based approach to both product design, development and in-field application. One of the key ingredients to great performance in science, or any field, is deep domain knowledge. As such, PSI comes with a powerful provenance based on 23 years of research. All our product claims are supported with in- depth scientific data, stretching from phenotype to genotype across multiple biological layers of data. This has allowed Brandon to fully identify the modes of action in the induction of plant responses related to specific product composition, clearly establishing causal effects. Such insight has informed a pipeline of products that are still in development or close to launch. Such PSI precision technologies include nitrogen use efficiency, pod shatter tolerance, water use efficiency, salt stress and heat stress.
Brandon has launched a new biostimulant product this month. When we spoke, you described it as a ‘next generation’ product. Can you elaborate a little on what next generation means to you, and tell us more about the product? How long has it been in development? What’s the end-use market? What’s the product formulation? How is it applied?
The ability to fine-tune the bioactivity of our products to specific agricultural challenges, based on defined structure- activity relationships, is what we term ‘next generation’ and in our view sets a new performance standard that offers predictable results based on a targeted bioactivity. We call this advancement PSI precision. Unlike most extracts with a mix of different biomolecules and untargeted bioactivities, Brandon’s PSI precision bioactives offer well-defined compositions with specific and reliable bioactivities, thereby, marking the transition from today's second-generation biostimulants to tomorrow’s next generation of higher-functioning biostimulants. The latest PSI precision technology developed by Brandon, PSI362, offers a “spray-on-trait” that can reduce applied nitrogen by up to 25 percent without compromising yield. Such performance is achieved by activating precise pathways in the plant’s metabolism relating to uptake, transport and assimilation of nitrogen. PSI362 is field proven across multi-annual field trials and is backed up by peer-reviewed publications. PSI362 is a robust technology that will integrate seamlessly with current farmer practice when delivered as nitrogen prill coating. The magnitude of the nitrogen reduction achieved with PSI362 without compromising yield suggests it can have a significant role in delivering the European Union (EU) target of a 20 percent reduction in nitrogen use in agriculture.
You mentioned a soft launch had taken place. When are you going for full roll-out? Does that include export?
Brandon Bioscience has worked closely with a number of partners to develop a commercial product. One of these is Irish-based Target Fertilisers – together, the companies have developed a new Terra fertilizer range. The Terra range of granular nitrogen is coated with PSI362 and has been trialed over the last five years with multi-annual field trials in barley, wheat, oilseed rape and grass (silage and grazing). The fertilizer range was soft launched to the market in 2021 and is currently available for purchase in the Irish market. The target customers for PSI362 are farmers engaged in all agricultural enterprises in all markets worldwide.
The company also won some wider recognition for the product. Tell us about that.
We were recently named the overall award winner of the 2021 Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena Awards and sustainable agriculture award for our PSI362 NUE product which we have teamed up with Target Fertilisers to bring to market in Ireland as the Terra Fertiliser Range. The Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena Award is an excellent platform to demonstrate ground-breaking developments, whether they are farmer-led inventions, commercial company innovations or research-focused solutions that have the potential to change the industry. Winning this award is fantastic recognition for our team and the tireless work they put in on the research and development of our solutions.
New AG International has been following the Next Gen Fertilizer Innovations Challenge since it began, and Brandon Bioscience recently won recognition during the second phase of the competition for the company’s new product. You must be pleased for the business and the team effort involved?
I am very proud and fortunate to be in a position to represent the team in Brandon Bioscience. Getting recognition from the Next Gen Fertilizer Innovations Challenge is further validation of the commitment shown by the team and the strategy we have as a company to provide next generation biostimulants to the agriculture industry.
And finally, Brandon Bioscience will be at the Biostimulants World Congress in Miami at the end of November. Assuming this will be your first world biostimulants congress, what are your objectives for the event?
Brandon Bioscience is delighted to be a silver sponsor of the Biostimulants World Congress in Miami this year. We are looking forward to presenting on Ascophyllum nodosum biostimulants and their role in reducing nitrogen inputs for sustainable crop production. I am personally looking forward to showcasing Brandon Bioscience and the fantastic work our team does, from research to delivering consistent high-quality product to our customers worldwide. ●
PALM TREES ON BOARDWALK HOLLYWOOD BEACH FLORIDA USA
As always, the aim of the congress is to disseminate the latest understanding on biostimulants, combining scientific and agronomic research with commercial aspects, such as strategies for product development, new uses and case studies, and the latest regulatory developments. And as always, the scientific committee had the difficult task of assessing the abstract submissions. One member of the scientific committee, Marciel J Stadnik, professor at Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil, told New AG International, “I am particularly keen to hear about cutting-edge technologies allowing the use of single and multicomponent biostimulants on crop plants in different environments, and to learn new insights about the underlying molecular and physiological mechanisms triggered by them to mitigate different types of abiotic stresses.” The in-person event gets underway with a workshop on marketing biostimulants. The workshop, which runs on Monday 29 November, features Michael DeSa, AGD Consulting; Barrett Sydnor, president of Syndor Associates; Jorge Aguilar, marketing director with Tradecorp; and Alice Toderi, marketing manager with Hello Nature.
First full day The congress begins with the first plenary keynote session on Tuesday 30 November, with opening comments by Professor Patrick Brown, University of California, Davis and co-chair of the scientific committee. Following Professor Brown’s opening remarks, the stage is set for Sylvie Brouder, professor of agronomy at Purdue University, who will speak on ‘Plant Nutrition and Climate Change’. Alberto Acedo, chief scientific officer with Biome Makers, follows with his keynote: ‘Soil Microbial Composition Allows Assessment of Biological Product Effectiveness and Crop Yield Prediction’. Then from the Austrian Institute of Technology, Angela Sessitsch, head of the bioresources unit, will speak on ‘Biostimulants the Microbiome and Soil Health’. The session will close with the announcement of the Farmer Award, sponsored by Valagro. After the plenary keynotes, there are three presentations spread across the science and commercial tracks, followed by a roundtable around the theme of biostimulants and the microbiome and soil health, with a further two presentations afterwards. The first presentation of the scientific session is given by Ernesto Alejandro Zavala, head researcher of the Spanish company Atlantica Agricola, entitled ‘The Accelerated Flowering in Tomato and Arabidopsis by the Nematophagous Fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia and its Relation with Jasmonate Signaling.’ Also speaking the scientific session is Jamal Javanmardi, assistant professor, California State University-Chico, who poses a question in the title of his presentation: ‘Worm Compost Tea’s Plant Growth-Promoting Power, is it the Micro-organisms or Chemical Properties’. In the commercial track, the commercial vice president USA for Hello Nature, Jon Leman, discusses ‘Innovation in the Biostimulant Sector: How to Achieve Sustainability and Profitability’.
Roundtable A commercial roundtable discussion with an expert panel is followed by Dominic Arun Joseph, director, Varsha Bioscience and Technology, who will present: ‘Commercial Aspects of Biofertilizers and Biostimulants Development Utilizing Rhizosphere Microbes’. Ry Wagner, president of international agribusiness, AlgaEnergy, will discuss ‘Regenerative Systems Approach to Sustainable Agriculture: Harnessing the Power of Innovative Biological Solutions’. Also, on sustainability, Benoit Genot, chair of the EBIC public affairs steering group and group marketing director, Valagro, will present: ‘The Third Way: A Solution for Sustainability’.
As we move into the afternoon in the scientific session, there will be a virtual presentation from Professor Giuseppe Colla, University of Tuscia. He will present on ‘Protein Hydrolysates as Potential Biostimulant in Vegetables: Elucidating their Mechanism and Optimizing their Effectiveness Through a Translational Research Approach’. This session will also look at techniques to find new microbial strains for biostimulants. Microbials research specialist from Valagro, Ilaria Lebano, will elaborate on ‘Use of Maldi-TOF Mass Spectrometry and Statistical Tools as an Integrated Strategy for Strains Identification in Microbial Biostimulants’. Moving to modes of action, Clara Piccinini, a PhD student at Queens University Belfast, will present on ‘Biostimulants Mode of Action in Plant Growth and Gene Regulation Against Hypoxia Effects’.
Then we hear from Guilherme Oliveira, project coordinator, Lallemand Plant Care: ‘First Robust Field Trial Tool Adapted to Evaluate the Agronomic Value of Biostimulants’. ‘Evaluation of Biostimulants for Plant Stress Tolerance – Overcoming Challenges for an Objective Assessment in Field Trials’ is the title of another presentation in the session by Ignacio Colonna, global director, science and technology, with AgriThority.
Looking to the future and sustainability in the commercial track, there is Courtenay Wolfe, CEO with FBSciences, discussing ‘The Next Generation of Biostimulants Products: Finding Synergies to Make 1+1=3 in the Field’. Ryan Miller, director of applied research for North America, Stoller, follows up on the sustainability theme with ‘Utilizing Science and Technology to Support Agricultural Sustainability’. Moving to the latter part of the afternoon in the commercial session, Matt Meisner, vice president of R&D and data science with Farmers Business Network, presents ‘Accelerating Innovation Commercialization via On-Farm Trials’. Rebecca Williams-Wagner, principal scientist with 3Bar Biologics, is next, and will discuss ‘Revisioning the Biomanufacturing Process for Improved Delivery of Microbial Biostimulants’.
There will be a poster tour towards the end of the afternoon.
Second day The science track session begins with Professor Patrick Brown, chair of the congress’s scientific committee, delivering the keynote: ‘Biostimulants, Nutrient Use Efficiency and Product Quality’. This will be followed by a presentation from Landlab in Italy. Cristina Sudiro, area manager plant biostimulation, will discuss ‘LL004: A Novel Biostimulant for Improved Yield and Quality in Fruits in Phosphorus Deficiency.’ LL004 is a standardized metabolite phytocomplex, covered in New AG International in March 2020. The science track continues with Hiarhi Monda, R&D lab director, Bio Huma Netics, Inc, who will expand on humic acids extracted from shale ore: ‘Bioactivity of Humic Acids Extracted from Shale Ore: Molecular Characterization and Structure-Activity Relationship with Tomato Plant Yield and Phenotype’. Continuing on the science track, we look at a biostimulant for a specific crop. Robert Kremer, professor of soil microbiology with the University of Missouri: ‘A Brassinosteroid-based Biostimulant Integrated with
an Innovative Crop System Improves Maize Productivity’. PhD researcher from Belgium’s Ghent University, Noemie de Zutter, will present on ‘Shaping the Rhizospere: Can in Planta Rhizobiome Selection for Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria Outperform Classical In Vitro Selection Methods’. In the science track, we will hear from Lukasz Langowski, molecular and plant biologist with Brandon Bioscience. He will elucidate on ‘Ascophyllum Nodosum Biostimulants and their Role in Reducing Nitrogen Inputs for Sustainable Crop Production’. Also, in the science track on Day 2, we have Stefano Ambrosini, PhD student, University of Verona, who presents ‘A Root-Growth Promoting Collagen-based Protein Hydrolysate
Boosts Recovery After Fe Deficiency’. Meanwhile, in the commercial track, Fabien Achard, biostimulants product manager with Agrauxine by Lesaffre, will offer insights on ‘How we Develop and Commercialize Biostimulant Solutions. A Case Study Insight to Moka, a Yeast Extract-based Solution’. A case study will also be presented by Agronutrition’s Philippe Girault, director of commercial Export.
Continuing in the commercial track, ‘Driving Innovation in Legume Seed Treatment Through Biostimulants’ will be presented by Maria Elize Bordoni, product manager with Yara. The schedule includes a presentation from Anna Konieczny, international marketing manager of Polish company Intermag: ‘How to Turn Beneficial Elements into Effective Biostimulants’. Continuing on the science track on Day 2, Heiner Goldback, professor, plant nutrition division at the
University of Bonn, will present on ‘Foliar Application of Biostimulants: How to Get Them into the Leaf Apoplast’.
Roundtable day 2 A second roundtable on the innovation stage on Day 2 features experts from a variety of companies. With the science track we then look at seed treatments, continuing with Julien Besnard, research engineer, University de Caen Normandie, with ‘Biostimulant Seed Treatment to Enhance Germination, Symbiosis Establishment and Early Growth of Soybean Subjected to Low Temperature’. The science track continues with Algaia and the director of research and onnovation, Franck Hennequart, who will elaborate on ‘Development of Novel Patented Seaweed-based Pool of Ingredients to Enhance Plant Growth Through the Soil Beneficial Bacteria’.
Another presentation related to foliar application, for a specific crop, will be delivered by Jesús Alcolea, variety and transfer manager of the fruit breeding group CEBAS-CSIC in Spain. He presents ‘Evaluation of Important Fruit Traits in Almond Cultivar “Penta” After Foliar Application of a Biostimulant’.
Forward looking Also in the science track, we have two future-looking presentations from Guillaume Barbier, biofertility program director with JoynBio: ‘Synthetic Biology for Unmet Agriculture Needs’. In another forward-looking presentation, we hear from the CEO of Fyteko, Guillaume Wegria, who speaks on ‘Bioengineered Naturally Occurring Signal Molecules, a New Generation of Plant Biostimulants’. Back to the commercial track, Irina Taka, owner and executive VP of Crop Biostimulation Technologies, will take the floor and discuss ‘Modern Paths for Tackling Crucial Plant Needs Through Crop Biostimulation Techniques’. Hamdi El Jendoubi, international technical area manager with Fertinagro Biotech, speaks on ‘Soil Microbiome Biostimulation, Designing the New Phosphorus Nutrition in Plants’. A case study from Amvac is scheduled to round out the day on the commercial track.
Third day Day 3 in the science track will begin with Pierdomenico Perata, professor of plant physiology, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, who will be discussing “The Future of Biostimulants’.
Coming at the sector from a regulatory viewpoint, Kristen Sukalac, consulting partner with the European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC), will present ‘Proving the Impossible: How Regulations Denying the Multifunctional Nature of Beneficial Microorganisms Can Kill the Innovative Potential of Plant Biostimulants’. To follow, there will be a regulatory framework and update panel with Kristen Sukalac and David Beaudreau, executive director, U.S. Biostimulant Coalition. Later in the morning on Day 3, Zheng Wang, cooperative extension vegetable crops farm advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension, will present a view from
I am particularly keen to hear about cutting-edge technologies allowing the use of single and multicomponent biostimulants…
growers: ‘Voice From California Vegetable Growers on Crop Biostimulants: Impression, Concern, and Hopes’. Before closing remarks, the science track continues with Jose Maria Garcia Mina, full professor of agricultural and biological chemistry, University of Navarra, discussing ‘The Key Role of Biostimulants in a Sustainable Agriculture Framework’. Closing remarks will be delivered by Professor Patrick Brown, co-chair of the scientific committee. This concludes the live in-person event but please be aware, there may be last minute changes to the programme. The BSWC digital event will begin Monday 6 December. ●
British Columbia, Canada-based SIPCO Innovations, in partnership with Hortitec, launched its new product HYSHIELD in Spain last month. The launch comes after the success of HYSHIELD in the North American market.
HYSHIELD is derived from the exoskeletons of crustaceans. The active ingredient in HYSHIELD, chitosan, naturally boosts plants' immune system, keeping pests and pathogens at bay and resulting in higher yields.
When used in hydroponic/soil media or applied to crops as a foliar spray or drench, HYSHIELD can increase plants' resilience to survive in high heat and cold stress environments.
"We have worked closely with experienced growers who have used HYSHIELD in their grow and the results have been phenomenal,” said Andrew Lemckert, SIPCO Innovations' director of sales and marketing. “They have all reported higher yields plus better protection in all growth stages. In addition, the natural protection that comes from using HYSHILED reduces the need for harsh pest management products in a very cost-effective way." ●
The aim of the Congress is to disseminate the latest understanding on biostimulants, combining scientific and agronomic research
Idai Nature, part of Rovensa Group since 2018, has launched Portento, a phytosanitary product based on a new generation strain of Bacillus subtilis, into the Spanish market.
The company stated Bacillus subtilis strain IAB/BS03 is a new generation
strain with a higher fungicidal capacity than other strains/types of Bacillus due to an optimal balance of three main metabolites (Iturin, Fengycin and Surfactin).
Portento eliminates scab in pome fruit trees, powdery mildew in cucurbits and downy mildew in lettuce and related plants
According to the company, the strain exhibits multiple modes of action and has a curative effect derived from the release of antimicrobial metabolites with fungicidal activity. Portento is capable of rapidly generating large quantities of these metabolites to destroy the cell membranes of phytopathogenic fungi. The product also acts preventively by inducing systemic acquired resistance (ISR/SAR)
diseases and by winning control of vital nutrients and leaf space through competitive inhibition.
Portento was launched in France last year. ●
NewLeaf Symbiotics and Meristem Crop Performance Group, LLC are partnering to bring new biologicals to more farmers faster. Under the new relationship, Meristem and NewLeaf will work together to make this yield-enhancing technology reliable, accessible and easy-to-use.
First of the new products to be released under the agreement is Meristem’s REVLINE HOPPER THROTTLE, powered by Terrasym. It’s a nutrition enhancer featuring azospirillum, micronutrients and NewLeaf’s Terrasym technology in an 80/20 combo of talc and graphite.
Terrasym is a new class of biologicals that infuses plants with naturally-occurring pink pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFMs). Since discovering Terrasym, NewLeaf has launched pipeline products for corn, soybeans and peanuts, with a variety of additional crop targets on the horizon including tomato, rice and cannabis. Meristem and NewLeaf are already at work on field trials of other products in the pipeline, including a corn rootworm biocontrol coming for the 2023 crop season. ●
Tradecorp has launched the biostimulant Biimore in India (marketed as Quikon).
The product was initially developed for the Brazilian market and became the country's first registered biofertilizer.
Biimore biostimulant is aimed at fruit swell and development in horticultural crops and tree fruit, as well as pre-flowering in broadacre legume crops.
It contains a combination of primary and secondary compounds, including L-α amino acids, vitamins, sugars and traces of other natural compounds. The product is naturally obtained from the fermentation of sugar cane molasses using a specific strain of the bacteria Corynebacterium glutamicum. ●
Indian biotech company String Bio has announced a viable new technology that can turn the greenhouse gas methane into a valuable crop input, namely, biostimulants.
Using its IP protected technology, String Integrated Methane Platform (SIMP), the Indian company is the first company ever to make crop inputs from methane. It has developed and successfully trialed two methane-derived crop nutrition products, suitable for both conventional and organic farming systems. Trials show how the products can increase the yield of some crops by as much as 40 percent.
String plans to pursue a global strategy in the roll-out of its methane-derived biostimulants, particularly as the SIMP technology provides flexibility for localized manufacturing. However, India – one of the world’s largest agricultural producers – will be the initial focus for launch, followed by South-East Asia and Latin America. All three regions need to significantly increase their agricultural productivity to meet the demands from projected population growth. ●
A &L Biological Inc., a subsidiary of A&L Canada Laboratories Inc., has been granted registration from the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency (CFIA) for AL-Bio 7, a new biostimulant formulation, to manage transplant stress in plants.
The company states that AL-Bio 7 improves soil and plant health by harnessing the beneficial properties of the bacterial strain AL-336.
AL-Bio 7 is designed to stimulate plant and root growth, improve stress resistance, and increase crop yield in high value specialty crops.
The company’s greenhouse and field trials showed significant improvement in plant vigour, root development, biomass and yield for plants in a transplant setting. Full commercialization of AL-Bio 7 Canada is planned for March 2022. ●
