Development of new generation biostimulants for field and vegetable crops

The collective awareness of the unsustainability of intensive production methods based on agrochemical inputs has opened the way to the development of new strategies integrating substances derived from living organisms or microbial bioinoculants. This is the case of the use of biostimulants in agriculture, which is proposed as an alternative solution. According to Yakhin et al. (2017), biostimulants are defined as either substances of biological origin or living microorganisms or both whose functions, when applied to plants or soil, are to stimulate natural ecological processes in order to improve the nutrient uptake and abiotic stress tolerance of plants, to increase the nutritional quality of plants and to protect them against pathogens and pests. Based on their natural origin and the small amounts that are applied, biostimulants are considered healthy and environmentally friendly (Yakhin et al., 2017).

'Plantiful' is a biostimulant/biofertilizer product containing a mixture of probiotic bacteria, local seaweed extracts from Quebec, and other natural organic constituents. 'CELEXT07' is an all-natural biostimulant with biocontrol effects against plant pathogens with bioactive constituents derived from plants. Preliminary results from field trials of both products showed a dramatic positive effect on different stages of plant development ranging from seed germination with 100% germination rate to better plant growth with higher chlorophyll content compared to control plants, which exceeded our expectations.

However, these products require improvements in their formulations and in the optimization of production costs. Indeed, the weak points are 1- The precipitation and the formation of aggregates in 'Plantiful' which makes filtration very difficult, even impossible, in some cases, resulting in a very reduced spectrum of use, and 2- The high cost of the two products which does not allow them to compete in the market. This is due, among other things, to the rental of fermenters, which represents about 90% of the cost of the product, the purchase of certain ingredients such as the microorganisms used in this fermentation and the prolonged duration of the fermentation.

In order to correct these problems, we propose to optimize the production process by performing different aerobic and anaerobic fermentation tests in less expensive fermenters (beer fermenters, for example) and by testing bacteria from the collections of the Université de Montréal and Lumeria Santé Inc.

The specific objectives of this project are to optimize the 'Plantiful' production process and to develop the second generation of 'CELEXT07'. To this end, the agronomic performance of the two new products will be validated in the field. In summary, this project will provide producers with an additional tool to reduce chemical fertilizer inputs, improve soil fertility and increase their yields while reducing the negative environmental impact of intensive agricultural practices.