Biological crop inputs are increasingly being recognized for their ability to enhance yields and crop quality while providing the critical sustainability benefits of improved soil health and nutrient utilization. Most recently, The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) identified the use of biostimulants as an opportunity to improve yields and reduce the need for creating new agricultural production acres through deforestation and other land conversions.
TSC is an independent global organization dedicated to using the best sustainability science to help companies make the everyday products we use better and more sustainable. TSC’s Food, Beverage and Agriculture working group is currently the largest working group within TSC, an acknowledgment of the critical challenges agriculture faces in sustaining a rapidly growing worldwide population with finite natural resources. In updates to its 2017 category sustainability profiles for crops ranging from grains and grapes to nuts and berries, TSC recommends the use of biostimulants as a means to improve key performance indicators of nutrient management, yield and land conversion.
“The research around the use of biostimulants points to clear opportunities for reducing key impacts related to agricultural production,” says Amanda Raster, a research associate and agricultural specialist at TSC. “Incorporating biostimulants into our improvement opportunities reflects TSC’s commitment to science as the foundation for our work. This effort ultimately strengthens the quality and impact of our toolkits by reflecting new scientific findings.”
Ry Wagner, CEO of Agrinos, says TSC’s recommendation to leverage biostimulants underscores the rapidly increasing recognition of the role biological crop inputs can have in agriculture production and sustainability. Agrinos is a biological crop input provider committed to improving the productivity and sustainability of modern agriculture. Agrinos’s range of biofertilizers and biostimulant products helps growers practice profitable agriculture by providing increased crop productivity, improved efficiency of conventional fertilizer, and a reduced environmental footprint.
“As a category, microbials and biostimulants are still relatively new in the minds of many producers, certainly in comparison to traditional chemical inputs,” says Wagner. “But our biological technology and product platforms are actually quite mature and very well-studied. This is a very exciting time for agriculture, as our understanding of the soil microbiome has increased dramatically and led to a revolution with innovative biological crop solutions that are addressing critical needs in agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability.”
Terry Stone, Agrinos vice president of regulatory and sustainability, says biological products offer several benefits beyond enhanced yield.
“Data from our laboratory studies and field trials show that Agrinos’s proprietary High Yield Technology (HYT) products improve nutrient and water utilization and reduce carbon emissions,” says Stone.
Stone notes the 2017 TSC recommendations for biostimulants are in keeping with an increased recognition from other organizations of the role biological crop inputs are playing. Earlier this year, the Biopesticide Industry Alliance announced its name change to Biological Products Industry Alliance. The name change reflects the group’s expanded focus to a wider range of science-based biological products that create value around the world, with the notable inclusion of biostimulants.