Potato Review

24 POTATO REVIEW JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 BIOSTIMULANTS available to agronomists. Whilst biostimulants come under the broad heading of biological products, there is a very clear di erentiation between those that have an e ect on biotic targets, i.e. pests or diseases, and those that target abiotic elements, he explained. Biostimulants rmly fall under the category where activity is limited to abiotic stress management, he added. As soon as biotic targets are directly in uenced, products come under the biopesticide heading with an entirely di erent set of rules and regulations. Furthermore, the de ning factor is its action, so simply calling a biostimulant by another name doesn’t enable claims to be made for biotic targets, or exclude it from regulations where required. “As an industry we need to be consistent about the way that we categorise these products, the way that we use them and the way we label products,” he warned. Rob calculated typically 60% of current crop yields can be attributed to fertiliser inputs, with 40% from crop protection products to keep the crop alive. However, since most crops are still performing way below their genetic potential, the agronomy challenge is how to make better use of those inputs to drive yields “As an industry we need to be consistent about the way that we categorise these products, the way that we use them and the way we label products.” Rob Cannings, Biostimulant Expert, Agri-Future Consultants