Biostimulants for cereal and oilseed crops

There is a wide variety of biostimulant products for use on cereal and oilseed rape crops. These tables summarise the evidence of benefits associated with key biostimulant types, in terms of their impact on plant nutrition, growth, yield and disease or pest tolerance.

In 2016, we reviewed the mode of action, efficacy and value of commercially available biostimulant products.

Non-microbial and microbial biostimulants were classified into distinct product-type categories.

For each product type, the evidence of efficacy was reviewed and classified into four levels:

• N/A: Not enough evidence available
• Low evidence: Mainly laboratory experiments with little or no data on cereals or oilseed rape
• Moderate evidence: More experiments, including some field-based experiments that tested products on cereals or oilseed rape
• Good evidence: Wide evidence base, which included multiple field-based experiments on cereals or oilseed rape

We considered whether the product types could improve:

• Crop nutrition
• Crop growth and yield
• Crop tolerance to pests and diseases

The biostimulants market is increasingly diverse, with developing regulatory requirements and variable data on the field efficacy of products.

It can make it difficult to gauge whether a biostimulant product has a reliable, legal and economically worthwhile role on farm.

ADAS is developing guidance to help you cut through the noise and make evidence-based decisions for your specific situation.

It is based on three steps:

1. Check the claims
2. Check the evidence
3. Check performance in a small area first

The guidance is being developed as part of a Defra-funded project that explores the efficacy, safety and environmental impacts of plant biostimulants.