Issues related to biostimulants

Reference

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has written a letter to the Chief Ministers of all the states requesting them to immediately stop the 'forced tagging' of nano-fertilizers or biostimulants with conventional fertilizers.

Related Issues

• Retailers are not selling subsidized fertilizers like urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) to farmers unless they buy biostimulants.
• Apart from this, many farmers had also complained about the ineffectiveness of biostimulants.

What are biostimulants

• Biostimulants help in increasing crop yield by stimulating vegetative processes in plants.
• Plant wastes and seaweed extracts are sometimes used in their production.
• The Fertilizer (Inorganic, Organic or Mixed) (Control) Order, 1985 regulates the manufacture and sale of biostimulants.
• The order defines biostimulants as a substance or microorganism or a combination of both.

Functions of Biostimulants

• Stimulate physiological processes in plants
• Enhance plant nutrient absorption, growth, yield, nutrition efficiency, crop quality and stress tolerance

India's Biostimulant Market

• According to market research firm Fortune Business Insights, India's biostimulant market was estimated to be US$355.53 million in 2024.
• It is estimated that this market will grow from US$ 410.78 million in 2025 to US$ 1,135.96 million by 2032.
  • This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.64% during the forecast period.

Regulation of Biostimulants by the Government

• Biostimulants did not fall into the existing fertilizer or pesticide categories, so they were sold in the open market without government approval for a long time.
• Fertilizers and pesticides in India are governed by the Fertilizer Control Order of 1985 and the Insecticides Act of 1968 respectively.
• The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare issues the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and amends it from time to time.
• In 2017, NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Agriculture prepared a framework for biostimulants.
• Finally, in February 2021, the Ministry amended the FCO of 1985 to include biostimulants in it, thereby regulating their manufacture, sale and import.

Fertilizer Control Order in respect of Biostimulants

• The inclusion of biostimulants in the FCO empowered the Central Government to prescribe specifications in respect of the same.
• The FCO has classified the specified biostimulants in its Schedule VI into eight categories which include botanical extracts (and seaweed extracts), bio-chemicals, vitamins and antioxidants.
• Every manufacturer or importer of biostimulants must submit an application to the Fertilizer Controller along with the required product information.
• The chemical composition of the product, source (natural extracts of plant/microorganism/animal/synthetic), shelf-life, reports of bio-efficacy tests and toxicity and other data should be submitted. 

Toxicity Tests

• The five basic acute toxicity tests are:
  • Acute oral (rat)
  • Acute dermal (rat)
  • Acute respiratory (rat)
  • Primary skin irritation (rabbit)
  • Eye irritation (rabbit)
• The four ecotoxicity tests are:
  • Toxicity to birds
  • Toxicity to fish (freshwater)
  • Toxicity to bees
  • Toxicity to earthworms

Testing and Testing

• As per FCO, no biostimulants should contain any pesticides in excess of the permissible limit of 0.01 ppm.
• In addition, agricultural bioefficacy tests will be conducted under National Agricultural Research System including Indian Council of Agricultural Research and State Agricultural Universities.

Constitution of Central Biostimulants Committee

• On April 9, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture constituted the Central Biostimulants Committee for a term of five years with the Agriculture Commissioner as Chairperson and seven other members.
• Under the FCO, it will advise the Centre on the following subjects:
  • Introduction of any new biostimulants
  • Specifications of various biostimulants
  • Methods of sampling and their analysis
  • Minimum laboratory requirements
  • Method of testing biostimulants
• Any other matter assigned to it by the Central Government

Latest Government Actions on Biostimulants

• As per the revised FCO order in 2021, manufacturers can manufacture and sell biostimulants for two years provided they apply for provisional registration.
• The agriculture ministry has repeatedly extended the deadline by two years, allowing most manufacturers to manufacture and sell biostimulants on a provisional registration basis by 2021.
  • While regular registration requires companies to submit testing protocols to the government.
• On May 26, the agriculture ministry had extended the deadline for several crops, including tomato, chilli, cucumber, paddy, brinjal, cotton, potato, green gram, grapes, hot pepper, soybean, maize and onion.