Mitigating Adverse Effects of Salinity Through Foliar Application of Biostimulants

The correlation between global warming and increasing soil salinity is evident, particularly impacting crop productivity in arid and semiarid regions. Hence, there’s an urgent need for sustainable and efficient measures to bolster crop resilience against salt stress. The consistent challenge of agricultural experts revolves around optimizing crop growth and yields, especially given the escalating global population and the realities of climate change. Abiotic stresses stand out as significant hurdles, significantly curtailing crop production for numerous economically vital crops, accounting for nearly 70% of the yield deficit. On the contrary, there exists a necessity to enhance existing crop productivity in order to fulfill the rising demand for food. Among the contemporary approaches aimed at bolstering plant resilience to abiotic stress, there has been a recent suggestion to incorporate plant biostimulants into crop production practices. A biostimulant refers to an organic substance and/or microorganism that, upon application to augment nutrient absorption, fosters growth, enhances stress resilience, or improves the quality of crops. One of the positive outcomes associated with the use of plant biostimulants is their potential to decrease reliance on traditional chemical fertilizers. However, the effectiveness of plant biostimulants can be significantly influenced by various factors such as the growth stage of the plant, the dosage applied, the method of application, soil composition, and environmental conditions. Plant biostimulants have actually been recorded to enhance salt resistance in plants mainly through modulating signaling molecules as well as paths plus controlling redox procedures. This phase offers a thorough introduction of a variety of biostimulants as well as their safety capacities versus ecological anxieties. However, it also underscores the pressing need to delve into the precise mechanisms through which these biostimulants exert their stress tolerance effects.