Biostimulants

Last week, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote to Chief Ministers of all states, urging them to immediately stop the “forced tagging” of nano-fertilisers or biostimulants along with conventional fertilisers.

Understanding Biostimulants:

• Function: Biostimulants are substances that stimulate physiological processes in plants, aiming to enhance yield from a harvest. They help in nutrient uptake, growth, yield, nutrient efficiency, crop quality, and tolerance to stress.
• Production: They can be produced using various materials, including plant-derived waste and seaweed extracts.
• Official Definition: The Fertiliser (Inorganic, Organic or Mixed) (Control) Order, 1985, defines a biostimulant as “a substance or microorganism or a combination of both whose primary function when applied to plants, seeds or rhizosphere is to stimulate physiological processes in plants and to enhance its nutrient uptake, growth, yield, nutrition efficiency, crop quality and tolerance to stress… but does not include pesticides or plant growth regulators which are regulated under the Insecticide Act, 1968.”

Regulatory Framework in India:

• Governing Laws: In India, fertilisers are governed by the 1985 Fertiliser Control Order (FCO), while pesticides are regulated under the Insecticides Act of 1968.
• Issuing Authority: The FCO is issued by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and is subject to periodic amendments.
• Inclusion in FCO: In February 2021, the Ministry amended the 1985 FCO to include biostimulants, thereby paving the way for their regulated manufacturing, sale, and import. This inclusion empowered the Central government to fix specifications for these products.
• Categorization and Purity: The FCO classifies biostimulants into eight categories (specified in Schedule VI), including botanical extracts (like seaweed extracts), bio-chemicals, vitamins, and antioxidants. The FCO strictly mandates that no biostimulant shall contain any pesticide beyond the permissible limit of 0.01 ppm