Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW MAY/JUNE 2020 21 BIOSTIMULANTS Bio brilliance? e use of biostimulants and bioactives is becoming more and more popular globally, but the UK has been slower to follow suit. So what can we learn from other countries? Two experts share their views with Potato Review . U K agricultural industry is amongst the best, most productive and environmentally mindful in the world according to Founder and director of Emerald Research, Simon Fox, who nds it surprising that we are lagging behind our counterparts in Europe, the USA and the Far East in the use of biostimulants and bioactives technology. “ is is partly driven by a myopic view from DEFRA, AHDB and others that, principally, only UK-based, non-commercial trials (whether independent or not) can be used to assess e cacy. Unsurprisingly, there is little data meeting these criteria, so evidence of e ectiveness is claimed ‘thin on the ground’,” he said. Quite the reverse is true, however. e biostimulants market worldwide is destined to grow to $4.9Bn by 2025, with 50% of that in the USA alone. Increased awareness among the farmers in Asia-Paci c about the bene ts of biostimulants is another factor augmenting the growth of the market alongside the increased adoption of sustainable farming methods. “Nature has spent many billions of years in a never-ending arms race to develop sophisticated chemistry and allies in allowing plants to overcome environmental and competitive pressures,” said Simon. “The potential store of biostimulants in nature is enormous and only the very surface has been scratched.” Simon said there are thousands of microbial species that could provide a very wide range of bene ts, a few of which are now being The biostimulants market worldwide is destined to grow to $4.9Bn by 2025. The picture is changing in the UK through industry/ academia collaboration. ➜