Enhancing Crop Resilience to a Changing Climate: Physiological and Agronomic Approaches

Within modern agriculture, biostimulants have established themselves as essential tools. These are naturally derived substances that enhance plant nutrition, stress tolerance, and growth, setting them apart from fertilizers and pesticides. Their significance lies in offering solutions to critical challenges such as soil degradation, abiotic pressures from climate change, and the demand for sustainable, high-yield agricultural practices. By enhancing the plant's innate physiological processes—such as nutrient uptake, enzyme activity, and hormonal regulation—biostimulants improve crop quality, resilience, and productivity, while reducing dependency on synthetic chemical inputs.

The need to use biostimulants stems from their capacity to help plants withstand adverse conditions like drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures—factors that represent a growing threat to global food security.

Among the most prominent types are humic and fulvic acids (which optimize soil structure and nutrient availability), seaweed extracts (rich in phytohormones and polysaccharides), amino acids (which boost chlorophyll synthesis), and microbial formulations (such as mycorrhizae and plant growth-promoting bacteria). Collectively, these products provide multiple benefits, including greater nutrient use efficiency, more robust root systems, and improved resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses.

Despite their demonstrated advantages, research on the combined application of different biostimulants remains scarce. Preliminary evidence suggests potential synergies—for instance, combining humic acids with microbial consortia to amplify nutrient mobilization—although interactions could also be neutral or even antagonistic. The lack of standardized protocols for application timing, dosage, and product compatibility hinders their optimization. Most current studies focus on single-product effects, leaving a knowledge gap on how integrated formulations influence crop physiology under diverse conditions. Closing this research gap is fundamental to unlocking the full potential of biostimulants in sustainable horticultural production.

This Collection is dedicated to exploring the challenges and benefits associated with the use of biostimulants in horticultural crop production. The objective is to analyze aspects such as their formulation, optimal application timing, and modes of action to maximize their effectiveness. We aim to deepen the understanding of their functionality and thereby support the development of more sustainable and productive agricultural systems.

We invite the submission of original research, review articles, mini-reviews, and methodology articles that address these areas.

Keywords:Biostimulants; abiotic stress; biotic stress; beneficial microorganisms; mycorrhizal fungi; PGPR; inorganic compounds; seaweed extracts; chitin and chitosan derivatives; humic and fulvic acids; protein

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 2