Soil Health and Biostimulants
From the time humans made the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled communities with a local agricultural base, the need has existed to improve the quantity and quality of our fruits, vegetables and grasses. Initial steps in this age-old undertaking included better selection of varieties for controlled propagation and improving agronomic practices related to tilling, irrigation, fertilization, and pest control, among others. As scientific knowledge grew, including basic chemistry, soil chemistry and structure, plant physiology and animal/insect physiology; more powerful methods became available to assist in these processes. An understanding of plant genetics led to breeding and selection programs that vastly accelerated the development of new varieties of plants of all kinds, with desirable characteristics such as higher yields, better quality, and increased disease and drought resistance.
The development of fertilizers, pest control chemicals and improved agronomic practices, together with the new plant varieties, have markedly increased plant productivity. The recent development of genetic engineering and other modem biological techniques has further expanded the biotechnological resources which can be brought to bear on existing advances in overall production.
One particularly promising approach to improving plant productivity involves the development and use of naturally occurring, organic materials, or “Biostimulants,” that influence the growth and development of plants by affecting control mechanisms within the plants or that act synergistically with nutrients to improve uptake and availability. While metabolism provides the power and building blocks necessary to sustain plant life, it is the endogenous Biostirnulants ( those produced within the plant itself ), that regulate the speed of growth and orchestrate the various parts to produce the form we recognize as a plant. Such materials, which have also been termed plant hormones , phytohorrnones, or plant growth regulators, have the potential to mediate a wide range of processes including seed germination, root and shoot growth, vegetative growth, flowering, fruit set, growth and development, in such a way as to improve overall production.
The basis for the activity of exogenously applied Biostimulants lies in their ability to interact with the network of endogenous biochemical mechanisms, including hormonal regulatory systems that mediate and balance all aspects of plant growth and development.
Because Biostirnulants allow growers to combine both science and nature in a superior agriculture system that improves overall efficiency; Biostirnulants become another valuable tool in a grower’s best management and best use practices arsenal. Their use increases the
likelihood of success with a corresponding diminution of risk. Biostimulants now talce their place alongside soil, light, temperature, water and fertilizer as critical components in a sophisticated matrix.
Pro-Soil Ag Solutions, Inc., manufacturer and distributor of natural soil nutrition and liquid plant food products that enhance the effects of fertilizer and stimulate plant growth, is driven by our mission to help farmers improve the health of their soils and the quality of the crops they raise.
Our products improve soil health by stimulating and feeding native microbial life in the soil which creates a higher yielding crop. To learn more about how you can increase photosynthetic inefficiencies, contact us today!