
Photo credit: FREEPIK
Biostimulants aim to improve the effectiveness of fertilization, the efficiency of plant nutrition. Their use is rather preventive. A plant biostimulant is a product that stimulates plant nutrition processes independently of the nutrients it contains, with the sole aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of plants or their rhizosphere: a) nutrient use efficiency; b) tolerance to abiotic stress; c) qualitative characteristics; d) availability of nutrients confined in the soil and rhizosphere. The biostimulants are made from a variety of natural sources, including plant extracts, microbial cultures and animal byproducts. They can be processed in different ways, by for instance being fermented, which are then formulated into products that can be applied on the fields.