Efficacy of Biostimulants to Improve Soil Health, Nutrient Availability and Crop Yields in Water-limited Environments

Commodities

Practices

The use of biostimulants in grain crop production is gaining
popularity among farmers and crop consultants, mostly driven by a
surge in product marketing campaigns, high fertilizer costs, and
low profit margins. However, there is paucity of information to
back claims made by manufacturers and agro-chemical companies
regarding the impacts of these amendments on soil health,
nutrient availability, improved crop yields and quality. Most
research data available from product manufacturers is derived
from studies conducted in controlled environments or product
testimonials with no peer-reviewed research to validate claims.
Particularly, dryland grain crop producers who have been
recipients of persistent marketing campaigns of biostimulant
companies are needing information on how these products will work
in water-limited environments with annual rainfall of < 600
mm. This research and education project will provide critical and
immediate information needed to address producer questions on
sustainable use of biostimulants to improve nutrient
availability, water infiltration, maintain soil health and
increase crop yields in dryland systems. We propose to conduct
field experiments across six locations including producer farms
in western Kansas over three years to investigate the effects of
different commercially available biostimulants on nutrient
availability, soil health and crop yields. This research will be
conducted across soil types, environments, precipitation zones
and cropping systems. The impact of biostimulants on
profitability compared to conventional nutrient management
practices will be quantified. Findings of the study will identify
site-specific conditions (crops and soil type) for the best
performance of these products. Results of the study will help
farmers select the most cost effective biostimulants and provide
recommendations on fertilizer and biostimulant use. Applying
biostimulants, if effective, could reduce fertilizer amounts
applied, add carbon to degraded dryland soils, build soil
microbial community to potentially increase soil health, nutrient
cycling and fertilizer use efficiency and crop productivity. In
addition, enhancing fertilizer use efficiency with biostimulants
could potentially decrease nutrient loss and adverse effects to
the environment. The above outcomes have potential to increase
the sustainability and profitability of dryland crop production,
and reduce environmental impacts associated with fertilizer use,
while building soil health, which are consistent with the
broad-based outcomes of the NCR-SARE grant program.

Objectives include: i) review available biostimulants in the
market and document suggested field use, ii) conduct field
research to quantify efficacy of biostimulants to improve soil
health and crop yields, iii) conduct economic analysis to
quantify profitability of biostimulants in dryland grain crop
production. At completion of the study, we anticipate a
significant increase in farmer knowledge and understanding
regarding commercial biostimulants types, when, where and how to
apply these products to improve crop productivity and soil
health. This project will provide needed information on economic
benefit of biostimulants as a soil and nutrient management
strategy in no-till dryland systems.