b'Kristen Sukalac, Consulting Partner at Prospero.ag, which helped found EBIC and provides its secretariat.HOW TO HELPhe European Farm to Fork Strategy is calling for a T reduction by 50 per cent of the use and risk of chemical PLANTS ANDpesticides, a reduction of nutrient losses by at least 50 per cent and a reduction in the use of fertilisers by at least 20 per cent by 2030. In addition, it aims to reach 25 per cent of agri-THEIR SOILcultural land under organic farming. And whereas most people are convinced that genetic improvements and better varieties will be key to achieving these goals, fewer people are aware ECOSYSTEMSthat biostimulants will also have a major role to play.Most market analysts report that the European biostim-OPTIMISEulants market accounts for roughly half of the global market. Estimates of the value of the European market range around USD $1.5-2 billion in 2022 and estimate the sector is growing at GROWTH,10-12 per cent per year, despite most countries not yet having adapted their regulatory frameworks to consider biostimu-lants. The biostimulant industry re-invests a substantial share EVEN IN HARSHof turnover into R&D (3-10 per cent). To find out more about what biostimulants are, and which role they can play in EU agri-CONDITIONS culture, European Seed sat down with Kristen Sukalac of the European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC) to get her take on these products.EUROPEAN SEED (ES): KRISTEN, CAN YOU DESCRIBE A CLOSER LOOK INTO THE WORLD IN A NUTSHELL WHAT THE EBIC IS AND EXPLAIN IT BIT MORE ABOUT ITS ACTIVITIES?OF BIOSTIMULANTS. BY: MARCEL BRUINS KRISTEN SUKALAC (KS):EBICs mission is to ensure plant biostimulant technologies are valued as integral to sustainable agriculture while securing an enabling regulatory framework for all of them. As the representative organization for the biostim-ulant industry in Europe with more than 60 active full mem-bersranging from dozens of SMEs to multinationalsEBIC embodies the voice of the biostimulant industry in Europe. Any company placing plant biostimulants on the Europe market is eligible to join EBIC.We just celebrated EBICs 10th anniversary in mid-June Much of the first decade was dedicated to securing access to the European single market for plant biostimulants. While we will continue working on regulatory questions, our emphasis is 32IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'