Biostimulants as Growth Promoting and Stress Protecting Compounds

Dear Colleagues,

Plant biostimulants, or sometimes referred to as agricultural biostimulants, are a diverse category of substrates derived from natural and biological sources with functions in plant growth and development from seed germination to plant maturity. The use of biostimulants in agriculture has become a common practice, providing a number of benefits to plants and the environment, since they are an attractive alternative to synthetic compounds. Biostimulants are usually a mixture of microorganisms and natural products, such as protein hydrolysates, humic and fulvic basic nutrients, and extracts from plants and algae. The application of biostimulants improves the efficiency of plant metabolism that further induces plant growth and yield, enhancing plant tolerance against abiotic and biotic stresses and improving the quality of crops. Exploring the benefits of existing and novel biostimulants in plants and the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects opens up new directions of research.

The general concept of this Special Issue is to provide an up-to-date overview in the use of biostimulants in agriculture to enhance plant growth and plant adaptation to stress factors. In particular, submissions of review and original research articles reporting novel scientific findings on the following, but not limited to, topics are welcome:

• Biostimulants to promote plant growth;
• Biostimulants to enhance plant stress tolerance against abiotic stresses;
• Biostimulants to enhance plant stress tolerance against biotic stresses;
• Biostimulants to improve crop quality;
• Novel biostimulants in agriculture.

Dr. Chrystalla Antoniou
Dr. Raffaella Maria Balestrini
Dr. Vasileios Fotopoulos
Guest Editors

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