Biostimulants for Next-Generation Crop Production

BackgroundCrop production is facing increasing pressure to maintain high productivity under biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, temperature extremes, nutrient limitations, heavy metals stress, and rising disease pressure, while reducing dependence on conventional chemical inputs. In this context, biostimulants are emerging as promising tools to improve crop performance, strengthen plant resilience, and support more sustainable production systems. Their wider adoption, however, is still limited by variability and reproducibility issues across trials and by a lack of mechanistic clarity under field conditions.GoalThis Research Topic will focus on the role of biostimulants in next-generation crop production, with particular attention to how they help crops respond to stress conditions and improve productivity.A key goal of the collection is to connect mechanistic studies with translational and field-oriented research. On one side, this includes studies on the mechanistic effects of biostimulants on crop stress tolerance, such as alterations in primary and secondary metabolism, activation of defense pathways (involving genes and metabolites), modulation of hormonal signaling, enhancement of nutrient uptake, and reshaping of plant-associated microbiomes. On the other, it includes applied studies addressing yield stability, crop quality, disease mitigation, plant defense, formulation, scalability, and field performance under realistic agricultural conditions, as well as the development of predictive and scalable frameworks for biostimulant application.ScopeWe aim to publish cutting-edge manuscripts that explore how biostimulants can contribute to resilient, productive, and microbiology-driven crop systems. The collection will welcome contributions on microbial strains, consortia, enzymes, small molecules-based biostimulants, fermentation-derived compounds, and related technologies that can improve crop establishment, growth, stress adaptation, and disease outcomes. It will also provide space for data-driven approaches that help explain product performance, predict crop responses, and support the design of more effective and reliable biostimulant strategies for different crops and environments. We particularly encourage studies that bridge controlled-environment findings with field validation, demonstrate consistency across environments and cropping systems, and deliver reproducible, scalable outcomes and actionable insights for agricultural implementation.Subjects to be coveredThe following is a non-exhaustive list of subjects to be covered in this Research Topic: • Plant growth-promoting microorganisms as biostimulants in crop production • Biostimulants for disease mitigation and plant defense • Mechanistic effects of biostimulants on crop stress tolerance • Biostimulant-induced alterations in plant metabolism under stress conditions • Biostimulants for drought tolerance, salinity tolerance, extreme temperatures, heavy metals, and nutrient stress • Biostimulant interactions with biotic and abiotic stresses and their implications for plant ecophysiology, agronomic performance, and grain quality • Microbial consortia, rhizosphere interactions, and microbiome-informed biostimulant design • Fermentation-derived and enzyme-based biostimulants for crop improvement • Biostimulants and activation of hormonal, redox, and defense signaling pathways • Formulation technologies, delivery systems, encapsulation, and shelf-life optimization • Field validation of biostimulants across crops, soils, and environmental conditions • Data-driven and omics-based approaches to biostimulant performance and mechanism of action • Biostimulants for improving crop productivity, quality, and input-use efficiency • Industrial-scale production and process optimization of microbial biostimulants • Circular bioeconomy approaches using microbial and agro-industrial resources for biostimulant development • Standardization and benchmarking approaches for evaluating biostimulant efficacy • Integration of biostimulants with crop management systems (e.g., fertilizer reduction strategies) • Regulatory and commercialization considerations relevant to biostimulant adoption, food safety, and food security Topic editors: Carlos Eduardo Aucique-Perez, Dhirender Kumar, Mauro Martinez Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79781/biostimulants-for-next-generation-crop-production