The Phosphite Biostimulant Stewardship Group (PBSG) has released data from trials across four years, 13 countries and eight different crops that prove the agronomic benefits of using phosphite as a biostimulant. With 178 individual trials analysed, the aggregated data shows improvements across all metrics, including root weight, tissue analysis and crop yield.
Verdesians’s Technical Manager Europe, Dirk Schröder, founder member of the PBSG, provided a proportion of the aggregated data. He commented, “Phosphite is used at very low doses for biostimulant purposes but has a dramatic effect on the plant, particularly during establishment. Root biomass is around 30% greater on treated plants, which has an immediate effect on nutrient uptake. Agronomists are also finding that treating crops with foliar phosphite in the spring improves nitrogen use efficiency.”
Data from the PBSG trials shows a 5% increase in yield from phosphite seed treatment and a further 10% increase from spring applications of foliar phosphite. Aggregated and anonymised by Ramboll, specialists in data management, the combined metrics across 88 trials on cereals, oilseeds and maize show a range of improvements from up to 9.9% in cereals to over 20% in maize.
Dr Mark Palmer, Commercial Director at UK based IntraCrop, believes phosphite biostimulants applied in sequence give the best results. “We recommend a phosphite seed treatment to increase the speed of germination and root development. This works for around two months, which improves crop establishment and helps the crop withstand stress over the winter. We then follow up with a foliar treatment which also increases the activity of the enzyme nitrate reductase for better nitrogen assimilation.”
The PBSG is concerned about the prospect of a ban on phosphite biostimulants and is working with the European Biostimulant Industry Council (EBIC) to persuade the EU to include phosphite as a permitted biostimulant under the new fertiliser regulation.
