b'Why Biostimulants Are a Main Feature SIMON WATTCHIEF TECHNOLOGY &and No Longer Just an Add-onINNOVATION OFFICER, ACTIVATE AG LABSsimon@activateaglabs.com AS WE CONTINUEto progressTo turn this vision into reality, we activateaglabs.com within the agriculture industry,need deep and lasting changes to weve noticed there remains a mis- our global food and agriculture sys-conception that performance andtems to unleash the most important sustainability are mutually exclu- change opportunity in 75 years. Is Seed Application the Next Bigsive. That eco-friendly productsSea Beyond aims to address the cannot deliver the crop perfor- challenges faced by the agricultural mance growers need. Were chal- industry such as climate change. We Step for Biostimultants?lenging this conventional thinkingdo this by developing technological and doing so with proven sciencesolutions that respond to the needs BIOSTIMULANTS AREarguably the biggest stepfrom the past 40 yearsbiostimu- of agricultural production systems. forward for agriculture in several decades, and werelants can deliver stronger results inThe vision of Sea Beyond is to go just on the leading edge of biostimulant research. Onea sustainable manner. beyond the traditional limits of the of the biggest areas of potential in biostimulants is inAcadian Plant Healths Seaagricultural industry and bring inno-seed application.Beyond rebranding is a nod to thisvative solutions that can help farm-Right now, most biostimulants are foliar or soilvision of reconciling the trade-offers cope with the impacts of climate applied, often multiple times throughout the grow- between performance and sustain- change on crop productivity.ing season, and usually starting once the crop is wellability. With collaboration and inno- Acadian Plant Health is known established. Biostimulants are viewed as effective butvation, we can continue to developfor its sustainable biostimulant relatively short-acting (and therefore necessarily fre- solutions that meet the demandproducts that are made from quent) boosters to plant health and growth. Butfor food while also preserving ourseaweed extracts. Were creating Rather than applying to leaf or soil after crop estab- planets natural resources. meaningful value for multinationals, lishment, could seed-appliedbiostimulants set theOur industry has a long historyformulators, distributors and farm-crop up for enhanced success from the start, possi- of regarding biological crop protec- ers. Were doing that by providing bly providing longer-term benefit and a replacementtion products with suspicion. Thetools that can sit alongside and of later-season applications? Is there a multiplier ofagricultural inputs industry needscomplement existing technologies.benefits from mixing multiple modes of biostimulantto see beyond the current state ofWe aim to build on our existing action?agriculture and offer sustainableleadership position in the global Our industry has much to learn. Companies likesolutions that provide high-valuebiostimulant sector and develop ours are and working hard to build the necessary data.crop productivity. Biostimulantsinnovative solutions that can Heres what we do know: should no longer be viewed as amanage abiotic stress factors like Biostimulants achieve one of five specific but oftenperipheral add-on but as an essen- drought, heat, cold, salinity and interrelated goals: boosting stress tolerance, improv- tial component agriculture. nutrient deficiencies.ing plant growth, enhancing nutrient use efficiency,Our industry is faced with chal-increasing quality and improving yield. Conditions inlenges brought by unprecedented early season are often some of the most stressful achange happening the world over. plant must withstand anytime in the growing season,That means changing things on a and are made more difficult because the plant is at itsglobal scale. Lets see beyond the smallest and most vulnerable. A seed-applied biostim- conventional and work together ulant that supports early season stress tolerance couldto advance sustainability, for the have meaningful impact on crop establishment, uni- benefit of plant and planet.formity and ultimate yield. Since leaf applied biostimulants require multiple applications, seed treatment could offer a lower-effort solution to biostimulant application. Seed applicationJAMES MAUDE could prove more cost effective too, since it requiresSENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT PORTFOLIO only a small fraction of the product compared tofoliarDEVELOPMENT, ACADIAN PLANT or soil application.HEALTHAsking the right questions will be key to gainingjmaude@acadian.caacadianplanthealth.commaximum benefit from biostimulants. @AcadianPlantINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2023 SEEDWORLD.COM /41'