General Principles to Justify Plant Biostimulant Claims

Abstract

The forthcoming European Union (EU) Fertilizing Products Regulation 1 proposes a claim-based definition of plant biostimulants, stipulating that “plant biostimulant” means a product stimulating plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content, with the aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant: nutrient use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, crop quality traits or availability of confined nutrients in the soil and rhizosphere. The future regulation also specifies that a plant biostimulant “shall have the effects that are claimed on the label for the plants specified thereon.” This creates an onus for manufacturers to demonstrate to regulators and customers that product claims are justified. Consequently, the justification of the agronomic claim of a given plant biostimulant will be an important element to allow it to be placed on the EU market once this new European regulation is applied. In this article, members of the European Biostimulant Industry Council (EBIC) propose some general guiding principles to follow when justifying plant biostimulant claims, that are outlined in this article. These principles are expected to be incorporated into harmonized European standards that are being developed by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) to support the implementation of the regulation.

Review: Endophytic microbes and their potential applications in crop management

“…Over the past few decades the gradual development of a body of research that demonstrated that endophytes are common in plants and positively affect plant development and health represents an important advancement in understanding the importance and functionality of endophytes . Recently, the exploration for useful endophytes and other microbes for agricultural applications has been enhanced by emergence of companies that have as their primary focus development and marketing of plant biostimulants (including endophytes) . To facilitate development of applications for microbes in agriculture, the recent U.S. government 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act (also known as the 2018 Farm Bill) in the United States and regulatory documents in the European Union explicitly addressed biostimulants and their regulation .…”

“…1,7,8,35,45,46,58 Recently, the exploration for useful endophytes and other microbes for agricultural applications has been enhanced by emergence of companies that have as their primary focus development and marketing of plant biostimulants (including endophytes). 59 To facilitate development of applications for microbes in agriculture, the recent U.S. government 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act (also known as the 2018 Farm Bill) in the United States and regulatory documents in the European Union explicitly addressed biostimulants and their regulation. 59 The scientific, legal and regulatory framework appears to be in place for some significant future advancements in products and applications of endophytic microbes in agriculture.…”

Phaeophyceaean (Brown Algal) Extracts Activate Plant Defense Systems in Arabidopsis thaliana Challenged With Phytophthora cinnamomi

“…Plant biostimulants are defined by a biological mode of action that utilizes plant mechanisms to provide their benefits such as enhanced tolerance to stresses, enhanced nutrient use and productivity (Brown and Saa, 2015). In Europe, the general principles used to justify plant biostimulant claims highlight that their effect is independent of nutrient content (Ricci et al, 2019). Plant biostimulants are used at low rates of application which differentiates their mode of action from synthetic nutritional fertilizers.…”

Fish By-Product Use as Biostimulants: An Overview of the Current State of the Art, Including Relevant Legislation and Regulations within the EU and USA

“…The European Union (EU) Fertilizing Products Regulation (EU, regulation (EU) 2019/1009) proposes a claim-based definition of biostimulants, stipulating that "plant biostimulant" means a product stimulating plant nutrition processes independently of the product's nutrient content, with the aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant: (1) nutrient use efficiency, (2) tolerance to abiotic stress, (3) crop quality traits, or (4) availability of confined nutrients in the soil and rhizosphere [120]. The future regulation also specifies that a plant biostimulant "shall have the effects that are claimed on the label for the plants specified thereon."…”

“…Furthermore, the net agricultural benefit after considering both the positive and negative effects of the biostimulant should be large enough to justify its use. Lastly, general guidelines for conducting trials or assays for biostimulants are available and must cover components that include the aim of the trial series, statistical analysis and trial design, trial conditions, design and lay-out of trials, control data, application of treatments, and mode of assessment [120].…”