Harnessing Biostimulants to Improve Soil Microbial Health
Soil health serves as the foundation of sustainable agriculture, directly influencing crop productivity, environmental resilience, and food security.
Soil health is at the heart of sustainable agriculture
As extreme weather events increase and pose significant challenges to crop production, the agricultural sector is experiencing a fundamental shift toward sustainable practices that prioritize soil biological activity and long-term productivity.
Farmers are also facing input accessibility challenges, making it more difficult to obtain traditional agricultural inputs. Consequently, spreading organic fertilizers and amendments has become more prevalent as an alternative to enhance soil fertility and structure. Additionally, policy shifts towards sustainable agriculture values are on the rise. One of the new sustainable approaches in agriculture is the use of biostimulants, which stimulate natural processes to improve nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency, and abiotic stress tolerance, as well as crop quality and yields. Biostimulants are typically applied to seeds, plants, or the rhizosphere, supporting plant health in various ways. The shift toward sustainable agricultural practices has intensified focus on soil health. (Li et al., 2022).1
Reference: 1. Li, J., Van Gerrewey, T., & Geelen, D. (2022). A Meta-Analysis of Biostimulant Yield Effectiveness in Field Trials. Frontiers In Plant Science, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.836702
Impact of agriculture on soil health
Conventional agricultural can disrupt soil microbial communities through intensive chemical inputs and soil management practices that reduce biological activity. These disruptions often lead to decreased soil fertility and increased dependency on external inputs. Additionally, the use of certain products that are not biodegradable can contribute to environmental pollution, producing microplastics that further harm soil health and ecosystems.
Sustainable agriculture practices focus on maintaining and enhancing soil biological activity through targeted interventions that support beneficial microbial populations. Soil prebiotics represent a key strategy for achieving these objectives by feeding beneficial microorganisms already present in the soil.
Understanding soil microbiome management
The soil microbiome refers to the diverse community of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses, and protozoa that live in the soil and interact with each other and with the environment. Supporting this complex ecosystem requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond traditional fertilization methods.
Role of soil prebiotics
Soil prebiotics are organic compounds that stimulate microorganisms already present in the soil, thereby promoting the growth of beneficial microorganisms. They act by providing a food source for beneficial microorganisms and by stimulating their growth and activity, which improves nutrient availability for plants and reduces competition with pathogenic microorganisms.
Role of soil probiotics
Soil probiotics introduce beneficial microorganisms directly into the soil system. These added microbes work alongside existing soil communities to enhance biological activity, improve nutrient cycling, and strengthen plant-soil interactions.
Importance of soil organic matter
Soil organic matter provides the foundation for nutrient cycling and water retention. The biological activity within soil transforms organic compounds into plant-available nutrients while building soil structure and supporting beneficial microbial populations.
Benefits of healthy soil
Healthy soil maintains diverse populations of beneficial microorganisms that contribute to soil structure development and pathogen suppression. Healthy soil structure, supported by active microbial communities, increases water infiltration rates and water-holding capacity. This improved water management helps plants withstand drought stress and reduces irrigation requirements. Soil health directly correlates with plant performance through improved root development and enhanced nutrient uptake. Plants growing in biologically active soils show increased resilience to environmental stresses.
Roquette solutions for soil microbiome health
Roquette has a portfolio of plant-derived products for plant nutrition and protection. These solutions help customers provide key nutrients and growth factors, improve soil health, and stimulate growth while reducing the use of synthetic chemicals. Our solutions support both prebiotic and probiotic approaches to soil health:
- For prebiotic formulations: Providing growth factors that feed and activate existing soil microorganisms
- For probiotic formulations: Offering complementary ingredients that support the establishment and activity of introduced beneficial microbes
Specific products for the formulation of plant nutrition solutions, solid- or liquid-based, include:
SOLULYS® is a range of protein used as organic fertilizer and raw material for biostimulant for Plant Care solutions, promoting microbial development as a growth factor for both existing and introduced soil microorganisms.
Overall, Roquette has made significant strides to support customers in developing biodegradeble biostimulant formulations to feed key agriculture microbial populations and promote plant growth. By utilizing plant-based protein extracts as growth factors, our technical team of scientists can develop optimal solutions to support customers’ unique needs.