A multi-attribute approach to evaluating the impact of biostimulants on crop performance.

An ever-growing collection of commercial biostimulants is becoming available in a wide variety of forms and compositions to improve crop performance. Given the intricate nature of deciphering the underlying mechanisms of commercial products, which typically comprise various biological components, it is crucial for research in this area to have robust tools to demonstrate their effectiveness in field trials. Here, we took a multi-attribute approach to evaluating the impact of biostimulants on crop performance. First, we assessed the impact of a biostimulant on the soil and rhizosphere microbiomes associated to crops in eight reference farms, including corn (3 farms), soybean (2), cotton (2) and sugarcane (1), in different biomes and production contexts in Brazil and Paraguay. Second, we modeled a set of integrated indicators to measure crop responses to biostimulant application, including five analytical themes as follows: i) crop development and production (9 indicators), ii) soil chemistry (9), iii) soil physics (5), iv) soil biology (6) and v) plant health (10). Amplicon 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing revealed that the use of the biostimulant consistently changes the structure of bacterial and fungal communities associated with the production system for all evaluated crops. In the rhizosphere samples, the most responsive bacterial taxa to biostimulant application were Prevotella in cotton; Prauserella and Methylovirgula in corn; and Methylocapsa in sugar cane. The most responsive fungal taxa to biostimulant use were Arachnomyces in soybean and cotton; and Rhizophlyctis in corn. The proposed integrated indicators yielded highly favorable positive impact indices (averaging at 0.80), indicating that biostimulant-treated fields correlate with better plant development and crop performance. Prominent indices were observed for indicators in four themes: soil biology (average index 0.84), crop production (0.81), soil physics (compaction reduction 0.81), and chemical fertility (0.75). The multi-attribute approach employed in this study offers an effective strategy for assessing the efficacy of biostimulant products across a wide range of crops and production systems

Risk of multiple myeloma and agricultural exposures [Rischio di mieloma multiplo ed esposizioni in agricoltura]

We analyzed risk associated with exposure to pesticides and contact with livestock in 277 multiple myeloma (MM) cases and 2434 controls who participated in the multicentre European EPILYMPH study. Ever exposure to organic pesticides or contact with any species of livestock was not associated with an increase in risk of MM. However, risk associated with ever exposure to pesticides was elevated after adjusting for contact with sheep (OR= 2.0, 95% Cl 1.2 3.3). The finding of an excess risk associated with ever exposure to any pesticides after adjusting for contact with breeding animals is most likely due to chance. © PI-ME, Pavia 2011