Dora Agri Biostimulants Products

#1 What are Biostimulant Products?

Plant biostimulant products are substances or microorganisms when applied to seeds, plants, or the root zone, stimulates natural processes that enhance or benefit nutrient uptake, nutrient efficiency, abiotic tolerance stress, or crop quality yield.

Biostimulants products are neither pesticides nor traditional fertilizers; the target of biostimulants is the crop itself, which can improve the physiological and biochemical status of the plant, increase the effectiveness of pesticides and the utilization of fertilizers, improve the level of crop resistance to adversity, and also improve the final yield of the crop and the quality of agricultural products.

#2 Why we Need Biostimulants?

1. More and more stressful environments such as extreme temperature, irregular rainfall, and climate change are occurring, which puts higher demands on the normal growth of crops. Biostimulants can increase plant resistance and resist the stress of abiotic factors. 

2. Biostimulants have the ability to regulate water in plants, which helps the survival of crops under drought conditions;

3. It promotes the absorption, operation, and use of nutrients, thereby avoiding the leaching or losing nutrients to the surrounding ecosystem. It can help reduce nutrient losses, which means crops can make better use of natural resources.

4. Biostimulant products can improve the quality attributes of agricultural products, such as sugar content, coloring, nutrition, storage time, etc. Providing consumers with more nutritious agricultural products means higher income;

5. It helps to improve the physical and chemical properties of soil, promote the development of soil beneficial microorganisms, and protect and improve soil health. Healthy soil has a better water retention effect, which can better resist soil erosion. The influence of biostimulants on crops depends on the type of crop, the initial state of the soil, the planting situation of the crop, and other factors.

Biostimulants can achieve the following effects:
1. The minimum increase in output using biostimulants is 5%-10%.
2. Biostimulants increase fertilizer utilization by at least 5% (maybe as high as 25% or more).
3. The use of biostimulants can save 10%-15% of pesticide consumption.
4. Using biostimulants, crop quality traits such as fruit set, color consistency, and crop size can be increased by 15% in some cases.

#3 Classification of Plant Biostimulants

1. Humic and fulvic acids. These acids are naturally present in the soil due to the decomposition of organic matter.
2. Protein hydrolysates. These include small peptides and amino acids, which are the building blocks of all proteins.
3. Seaweed and plant extracts. Seaweed extracts may contain micronutrients and phytohormones, such as cytokinins. Plant extracts may contain substances that will stimulate the plant’s metabolism or natural defense system. The exact chemical composition of these extracts is usually unknown.
4. Chitosan and other biopolymers. A “biopolymer” is a specific molecule derived from a plant or animal source; for example, chitosan is derived from the shell of a crustacean.
5. Inorganic compounds. These are mineral-based molecules (e.g., phosphite) and minor elements (e.g., silicon).
6. Beneficial microorganisms. The action of these products is based on the activity of live fungi and/or bacteria.