With producers under mounting pressure from climate change and soil degradation, biostimulants are fast emerging as a vital part of South Africa’s agricultural future. According to the South Africa Biostimulants Market report, the local biostimulants market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 5% between 2023 and 2029, driven by increased investment in research and market expansion.
Venessa Moodley, Biologicals Lead at Omnia Agriculture, says that the current biostimulant landscape consists primarily of seaweed extracts, amino acids, humic and fulvic acids. “These products have gained the most traction in high-value crops such as vineyards, orchards, and other permanent crops, largely due to producers’ greater willingness to invest in higher input costs and the ease of integration into existing application processes.”
In terms of biostimulant use on dry land grain crops like maize, Moodley says the demand is growing as the products become more affordable. “Producers are starting to adapt their practices – for instance, applying biostimulants during planting – but the availability of bio-control solutions remains a challenge due to inconsistent efficacy results, high investment costs for registration and extended registration timelines.”
Healthier plants, healthier soils
In simple terms, biostimulants are substances or microorganisms applied to plants to enhance nutrient use efficiency, stress tolerance, and crop quality, regardless of their nutrient content. Moodley explains: “Mineral fertilizers directly deliver essential macro and micro-nutrients for plant uptake and growth, whereas biostimulants aim to enhance the plant’s natural processes and resilience mechanisms.”
By strengthening a plant’s natural defense system and stimulating biological activity in the rhizosphere, biostimulants have been shown to support stronger root architecture, improved nutrient uptake, and enhanced photosynthesis. The result is more vigorous growth, higher yields, and improved crop quality.
In addition, biostimulants can play a crucial role in building climate resilience. “Some biostimulants, like seaweed extracts, act as osmoprotectants, helping plants maintain osmotic balance and reduce moisture loss during drought conditions,” Moodley explains. “Biostimulants also trigger natural antioxidant activity in plants, helping neutralize the damage caused by oxidative stress during extreme heat or water scarcity.”
For biotic stresses such as pests and diseases, biostimulants may activate the plant’s Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR) and Acquired Systemic Resistance (SAR) pathways, effectively “priming” plants to respond faster and more strongly to attacks – almost like a vaccination effect.
Barriers to adoption
Due to biostimulants often being of biological or living in nature, Moodley notes that inconsistent or delayed results may occur especially if they are not used correctly or if environmental conditions are not conducive to efficacy. “This highlights the need for greater education and improved knowledge transfer around the correct use of biostimulants, their limitations, and realistic expectations of performance.”
In addition, she says the presence of low-quality products on the market – often lacking scientific validation – undermines grower confidence and reduces adoption rates. “Another barrier is that biostimulants are not always compatible with existing on-farm practices, sometimes requiring additional investment to adapt application methods,” she adds. “As an industry, we must prioritise developing solutions that integrate as seamlessly as possible into current farming systems.”
In this sense, Moodley believes regulation plays a key role in increasing adoption rates. “Clearer guidelines for categorising biostimulants, along with requirements for scientifically proven efficacy trials and more cost-effective, time-efficient registration processes, will help increase adoption, build trust and encourage broader uptake.”
Driving export competitiveness and a more sustainable future
Moodley emphasises that biostimulants can play an important role in South Africa’s broader agri-export strategy. Key markets, such as the European Union, are tightening regulations on sustainability, residue management, carbon footprint, and traceability. In this context, biostimulants – when used in conjunction with sustainable farming practices – can reduce dependency on intensive agrochemical and fertilizer inputs while supporting higher yields.
“Biostimulants contribute to climate resilient agriculture, where it can be possible to still produce high yielding, high quality crops under variable environmental conditions. Maintaining premium export quality produce with global compliance standards is critical for South Africa to remain competitive in the global market and biostimulants can in-future play a pivotal role as a solution to a greener and more sustainable future,” she concludes.
