Biostimulants stimulate natural processes in crops to enhance nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency (NUE), resistance to abiotic stress and quality traits. This collection reviews key advances in understanding and using biostimulants.

Biostimulants stimulate natural processes in crops to enhance nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency (NUE), resistance to abiotic stress and quality traits. They offer the opportunity to enhance fertilizer use and thus contribute to more sustainable crop production. This collection reviews key advances in understanding and using biostimulants.

Part 1 reviews ways of classifying biostimulants, types of bioactive compound and ways of evaluating biostimulants. Part 2 surveys the various types of biostimulant, from humic substances and seaweed extracts to protein hydrolysates, silicon, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Part 3 discusses advances in designing second-generation biostimulants and their practical application in such areas as enhancing nutrient use efficiency (NUE).

With its distinguished editors and international range of expert authors, Biostimulants for sustainable crop production will be a standard reference for those researching crop nutrition, government and other bodies supporting more sustainable agriculture as well as agronomists and farmers.

Dr Youssef Rouphael is an Associate Professor at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. Professor Patrick du Jardin is Head of the Plant Biology Unit at the University of Liège, Belgium. Dr Patrick Brown is Professor of Plant Nutrition at the University of California-Davis, USA. Dr Stefania de Pascale is Professor of Horticulture at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. Dr Giuseppe Colla is Professor of Horticulture at the University of Tuscia, Italy.