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Biostimulants for crops from seed germination to plant development focuses on the effects and roles of natural biostimulants in every aspect of plant growth development to reduce the use of harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Biostimulants are a group of substances of natural origin that offer the potential to reduce the dependency on harmful chemical fertilizers causing environmental degradation. While there is extensive literature on biostimulants, there remains a gap in understanding how natural biostimulants work and their practical application. Biostimulants for Crops from Seed Germination to Plant Development fills that gap, presenting the ways in which biostimulants enhance seed vigour and plant productivity by looking into their mode of action, an area still being researched for deeper understanding. Exploring the roles of seed germination, pollen tube formation, pollen-pistil interaction, flower and fruit setting, to plant pigments, rhizospheric and soil microorganisms, the book also sheds light on the challenges and realistic opportunities for the use of natural biostimulants.
1. Introduction to natural biostimulants
2. Mode of application of biostimulants
3. Role of natural biostimulants in seed germination
4. Influence of biostimulants on pollen tube development
5. Role of biostimulants in pollen-pistil interaction
6. Biostimulants for flower and fruit set
7. Enhancing plant pigments using natural biostimulants
8. Biostimulants and development of shoot and root
9. Effect of biostimulants on rhizospheric and soil microorganisms
10. Effect of biostimulants on antioxidant properties of plants
11. Biostimulants in enhancing nutrition efficiency of crops
12. Cellular and metabolic effects of natural biostimulants
13. Biostimulants in improving yield and shelf-life of crops
14. Contribution of biostimulants in improving soil health
15. Role of biostimulants in the regulation of phytohormone biosynthesis in plants
16. Disease management using biostimulants
17. Role of biostimulants in mitigating biotic and abiotic stress
18. The biochemical, physiological and molecular mode of action of biostimulants
19. Commercial natural biostimulants and their role in plant growth development
20. The current and future directions in biostimulant research
Shubhpriya Gupta obtained a PhD in Botany from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, India in 2015. Her research field includes plant physiology, biostimulants, plant tissue culture, plant biotechnology and analytical chemistry. She has published 14 research articles in reputed journals. She worked as an assistant professor at Baba Farid College, Punjab, India from September 2015 to October 2017. At present, she is working as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Kwa Zulu-Natal, South Africa. She is a review board editor of South African Journal of Botany and a journal referee for Acta Physiologia Plantarum, and the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation.
Johannes van Staden obtained a PhD in Botany from the University of Natal, South Africa in 1970. He is the director of the Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, University of Natal, South Africa. His research field includes plant hormones, biostimulants, seed germination, senescence, stress physiology, post-harvest physiology, biotechnology and plant tissue culture, ethnobotany, secondary products and ethnomedicine. Prof van Staden has supervised 82 MSc and 100 PhD students and 70 Post-Docs. He is the author/co-author of more than 1300 papers that have been published in ISI rated journals. He has a number of publications that qualify as ‘citation classics’ (over 100 citations). Prof van Staden is the Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Botany.
