Recent years have seen an explosion of products under the term “biostimulants” for use as alternatives to traditional crop production chemicals. Among the most commonly used biostimulants are humic ...and fulvic acids, seaweed extracts, and beneficial microbes. This article gives a brief overview of these substances and their reported effects on plant growth and health and also presents preliminary results from ongoing studies at the SWFREC.
Anthropogenic climate change, namely climate alterations induced by human activities, is causing some issues to agricultural systems for their vulnerability to extreme events. Forecasts predict a ...global population increase in the near years that will exacerbate this situation, elevating the global demand for food. It will pose severe concerns in terms of natural resource usage and availability. Agriculture is one of the anthropogenic activities that will be more affected in the future. Climate extremes menace to affect the quantity and quality of crop production severely. Drought, water and soil salinity are considered among the most problematic factors that anthropogenic climate change will increase. This complex and worrying scenario requires the urgent implementation of sustainable measures which are capable of improving crop yield and quality, fostering the robustness and resilience of cropping systems.
Among the more current methodology, the use of natural plant biostimulants (PBs) has been proposed to improve plant resistance to abiotic environmental stresses. The advantage of using these substances is due to their effectiveness in improving crop productivity and quality. Therefore, in this review, the most recent researches dealing with the use of natural PBs for improving plant resistance to drought and salinity, in an anthropogenic climate change scenario, have been reported and critically discussed.
Display omitted
•Climate change will hard test agricultural systems more and more in the near future.•Drought and salt stress cause considerable losses in crop production.•Sustainable and cogent measures are needed to improve the stability of agriculture.•Natural plant biostimulants improve crop productivity under environmental stress.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Blueberry production is increasing in Brazil, and growers are turning to bio-inputs or biostimulants to be used on their growth. This has been due to the growing concern about sustainability in the ...food production chain and the necessity to increase the yield. The current experiment aimed at evaluating the effects of Samurai King, EM-1 and Brutal Plus (Minhofértil) biostimulants on the cultivation of Southern Highbush blueberries (V. corymbosum L.), cultivar 'Biloxi'. The parameters evaluated were plant height (cm), diameter of the main stem (mm), number of shoots, chlorophyll content, total number of leaves, leaf length and width. The total mass, number of fruits, average mass per fruit, the transversal and longitudinal diameters, and the total sugars (°Brix) were also measured. In 2020, the treatment of Samurai King + EM-1 showed the highest efficiency for the studied parameters related to fruits and yield but with no significant difference as compared to the other treatments. Regarding the plant growth, treatments 1 (Brutal Plus) and 5 (Brutal Plus + EM-1) were the most efficient. In 2021, treatment 7 (Brutal Plus + Samurai King + EM-1) had the highest yields, except for average mass per fruit and total sugars. In the two years of evaluation, although treatments obtained lower averages than the control, the effect observed was generally positive, revealing the efficiency of products containing microorganisms for the growth of blueberry plants. In conclusion, these bioproducts could remarkably affect plant biomass, production and fruit quality, resulting in better yields.
The carrying out of uniform forage crops represents an important technological loop for all agricultural species. The uniformity of these crops is caused especially by seed germination capacity, ...respectively by plant emergence capacity, depending upon the climatic and technological conditions. With regards to the researches carried out in this direction, we present here the influence exerted by some biostimulators, used through extra-root application during plant vegetation period, upon seeds submitted to germination. Concerning the red clover seeds, we may notice an increase of the germination energy from 88.33% in the untreated control variant to 95.67% in the variants submitted to treatments with biostimulant substances.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The carrying out of uniform forage crops represents an important technological loop for all agricultural species. The uniformity of these crops is caused especially by seed germination capacity, ...respectively by plant emergence capacity, depending upon the climatic and technological conditions. With regards to the researches carried out in this direction. We present here the influence exerted by some biologically-active products, used through extra-root application during plant vegetation period, upon seeds submitted to germination. The observations performed on alfalfa seeds have led to the conclusion that the per cent of germinated seeds ranges from 95.66%. In the untreated control variant, to 99.33% in the variant treated with the product Stimupro and Mega grow.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Microbial plant biostimulants have been successfully applied to improve plant growth, stress resilience and productivity. However, the mechanisms of action of biostimulants are still enigmatic, which ...is the main bottleneck for the fully realization and implementation of biostimulants into the agricultural industry. Here, we report the elucidation of a global metabolic landscape of maize (
Zea mays
L) leaves in response to a microbial biostimulant, under well-watered and drought conditions. The study reveals that the increased pool of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) intermediates, alterations in amino acid levels and differential changes in phenolics and lipids are key metabolic signatures induced by the application of the microbial-based biostimulant. These reconfigurations of metabolism gravitate toward growth-promotion and defense preconditioning of the plant. Furthermore, the application of microbial biostimulant conferred enhanced drought resilience to maize plants
via
altering key metabolic pathways involved in drought resistance mechanisms such as the redox homeostasis, strengthening of the plant cell wall, osmoregulation, energy production and membrane remodeling. For the first time, we show key molecular events, metabolic reprogramming, activated by a microbial biostimulant for plant growth promotion and defense priming. Thus, these elucidated metabolomic insights contribute to ongoing efforts in decoding modes of action of biostimulants and generating fundamental scientific knowledgebase that is necessary for the development of the plant biostimulants industry, for sustainable food security.
The influence of four microbial biostimulants containing various strains of Bacillus subtilis and/or Paenibacillus sp. on the quality of raspberries cv. Delniwa, Poemat, and Enrosadira cultivated in ...two consecutive seasons was investigated. The biostimulants influenced the antioxidant level, antioxidant capacity, phenolic acids and flavonoids profiles, enzymatic activity, and the degree of methylation and acetylation of the pectin in the raspberry fruits. The biostimulants had the greatest effect on the antioxidant content (16% - 20% increase) and capacity in the Delniwa raspberry fruits from the first season. A positive correlation was found between the activity of the β-galactosidase enzyme and ferric reducing power. In the second season, a decrease in the activity of pectin esterase and α-L-arabinofuranosidase and an increase in the degree of methylation of pectin were noted. Our results suggest that the changes in raspberry quality were related to the type of biostimulant applied.
Display omitted
•Three raspberry varieties were cultivated in organic farm in two seasons.•Applied microbiological biostimulants affected the quality of raspberry.•The biostimulants positively influenced on the antioxidant properties of raspberry.•The biostimulants caused reducing the activity of the pectinolytic enzymes.•Applied biostimulants positively shaped the quality of raspberries.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abiotic and biotic stresses limit the growth and productivity of plants. In the current global scenario, in order to meet the requirements of the ever-increasing world population, chemical pesticides ...and synthetic fertilizers are used to boost agricultural production. These harmful chemicals pose a serious threat to the health of humans, animals, plants, and the entire biosphere. To minimize the agricultural chemical footprint, extracts of
(ANE) have been explored for their ability to improve plant growth and agricultural productivity. The scientific literature reviewed in this article attempts to explain how certain bioactive compounds present in extracts aid to improve plant tolerances to abiotic and/or biotic stresses, plant growth promotion, and their effects on root/microbe interactions. These reports have highlighted the use of various seaweed extracts in improving nutrient use efficiency in treated plants. These studies include investigations of physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms as evidenced using model plants. However, the various modes of action of
extracts have not been previously reviewed. The information presented in this review depicts the multiple, beneficial effects of
-based biostimulant extracts on plant growth and their defense responses and suggests new opportunities for further applications for marked benefits in production and quality in the agriculture and horticultural sectors.
•Scientific advances on vegetable quality in controlled environments are reviewed.•Genetic and grafting effects on quality are critically examined.•Key microclimate factors influential on quality are ...discussed.•Improving quality by nutrient management and biofortification is feasible.•Innovative management practices and future research warranted are highlighted.
During the last decades, food security has become a vital global concern driven by projections of population increase and exacerbated by the impending pressure of climate change on agriculture. Vegetable crops represent a fundamental ingredient of human diet due to their high nutritional value and bioactive content and could serve towards improving food security and nutritional quality, especially when managed under highly intensified cropping systems in controlled environments. Greenhouse and indoor growing modules not only allow for significantly higher yields compared to open field cropping systems, but also they can facilitate out of season production and substantial manipulation of the chemical composition and bioactive profile of the final product. The present work provides an updated critical overview of scientific advances regarding genotype and microclimate effects on the quality of greenhouse crops. In this context, innovative crop management practices are discussed, including management of the nutrient solution, biofortification and application of plant biostimulants. The review concludes by proposing future research pathways towards enhancing product quality of greenhouse vegetables.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
PDF
