Biostimulant interest hots up

Biostimulants are set to become a hot topic in all UK crop production, with potatoes among those with the most potential to gain.

Weather trends show a clear shift to higher temperatures, including prolonged periods of excessive peaks. And it’s crops with shorter growing seasons that can least afford any interruption in peak photosynthetic activity as a result of stress, warns Dave King, Head of Technical at Syngenta.

“Heat typifies the increasing stress potato crops are having to cope with. But there are a whole range of other abiotic influences adding increasing pressure, including drought, nutrition, solar radiation and air quality. That’s where we have seen biostimulants have a valuable role to play in mitigating the effects of stress,” he said. “The greater the apparent influence of stress in limiting the crop’s potential, the higher the yield response recorded.”

Having completed field trials of a UK study of biostimulant use in potatoes, Dave has highlighted initial analysis showed a correlation between the high temperatures experienced earlier in the season, and potential for yield responses where crops had been affected.

To hear more of Dave's insights, and read our full feature on biostimulants, see the next issue of Potato Review. Click here to subscribe.

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