In the world of agriculture, there has always been the challenge of ensuring that crops are in the best possible condition to achieve maximum productivity. Therefore, for years, one of the greatest challenges of this activity has been to promote the growth and correct development of plants. To achieve this, agricultural biostimulants are one of the best options.

In addition, this type of products cannot only help to promote growth. Among its benefits we also find that they help to increase crop resistance, provide many of the necessary nutrients or reduce contamination and damage caused to the soil.

What are agricultural biostimulants?

As the name suggests, biostimulants are composed of two elements. On the one hand, "bio" and, on the other, "stimulant". The first of these refers to the term "life", which indicates that these products contain microorganisms or substances derived from a living being and that they manage to provoke natural reactions in the plant. On the other hand, "stimulant" implies that it sets in motion or helps to develop some process or task.

In short, we could conclude that agricultural biostimulants are those products whose objective is to help the plant's vegetal development, improving its physiological processes and increasing its efficiency.

Benefits of biostimulants

Agricultural biostimulants provide a large number of benefits, including benefits to crops. These are some of them:

• Improved soil conservation and care. Thanks to the composition of biostimulants, the soil is more likely to be maintained in the most optimal physical and chemical properties.
• Increases crop productivity and quality. This is due to the fact that these products contribute to the correct functioning of plant metabolism, as well as to the stress reduction they achieve.
• Helps to increase plant resistance to drought conditions. Biostimulants make the plant more resistant to conditions of lack of irrigation. In addition, they can also contribute to maintaining soil moisture.
• It achieves a better utilization of fertilizers. The application of these products increases the plant's nutrient absorption capacity. Consequently, the fertilizers used are used to the maximum, thus increasing their efficiency and economic profitability.
• Increases crop sustainability. Biostimulants produce a much smaller amount of residues than other types of products, so we can achieve more sustainable and healthy crops for consumption.

Types of agricultural biostimulants

Among the types of biostimulants we can find a wide range of possibilities. However, we could highlight three of them. In the first place, we find the humic acids. This category comprises the organic matter found in one of the most superficial layers of the soil. Secondly, we can name the amino acidsa type of molecule that provides energy to plants and helps them to overcome stressful situations. Lastly, there are those derived from plants and algae.