PCC MarchApril Final Draft

Continued from Page 37
Responses Regarding
Biostimulants
The responses indicated that over half
of respondents (40) know some knowledge
about biostimulants, of which 37
applied biostimulants to at least one or
two of their vegetable crops. There were
nine growers who claimed having the
highest knowledge level (very well), but
two of them did not use biostimulants
to any of their vegetable crops. There is
no surprise that the majority of growers
who responded with just a little knowledge
or not knowing anything about
crop biostimulants did not apply any
biostimulant to any of their vegetable
crops. The respondents were almost
equally distributed by the application
level of biostimulants (Table 2). The
survey also asked the previous experience
or future impression regarding the
efficacy of biostimulants on improving
vegetable growth. From the results,
50 growers, representing 68% of total
respondents, shared the experience or
impression that biostimulants could
conditionally confer their efficacy. Less
than 20% of the respondents indicated
a consistent, positive performance on
improving their vegetable crops, while
only 13% gave the negative impression
on biostimulant efficacy (Figure 1).
Concerns and Hopes
I have received numerous questions in
the past years from vegetable growers,
their advisors and colleagues regarding
the biostimulant selection, effect evaluation,
quality control and incompatibility
with other field activities. “Going
in blind”, “Unable to identify the
benefits”, and “Snake oil” are common
complaints. One of the main objectives
for the survey is to identify the biggest
concerns of using biostimulants on
vegetable crops among growers. The
survey results showed that about half of
the respondents identified the difficulty
of choosing a proper product as one of
the main concerns followed by the risk
of low or no return on investment. In
addition, concerns of incomplete label
Continued on Page 40
Application level
of biostimulants
Apply to most
vegetables.
Apply to certain
vegetables.
Apply to one or
two vegetables.
I don’t use to
any vegetables.
Sub-total
Figure 2.
38 Progressive Crop Consultant March / April 2021
Stanislaus
Kern
Santa Barbara
San Luis Obispo
San Joaquin
Fresno
Monterey
Imperial
Yolo
Sutter
Merced
Sacramento
Madera
Yuba
Riverside
San Bernardino
San Diego
Santa Cruz
Santa Clara
Ventura
Solano
Understanding level of biostimulants
Very well Some A little Nothing
3
3
1
2
9
Table 2. Number of grower responses to the understanding/knowledge level of
biostimulants and how much of vegetable crops growers apply biostimulants to.
10
14
13
3
40
34
3
1
1
14
5
3
3
7
2
10
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
Figure 1. Responses to previous experience or future impression regarding
biostimulant efficacy.
5
6
9
20
5
5
Sub-totoal
18
17
20
19
Total: 74
Figure 2. Growers’ concerns regarding the use of crop biostimulants on vegetable crops.