CURRENT STATUS OF BIOSTIMULANTS IN RELATION TO EUROPEAN LEGISLATION
Intra Radice S.L. is a microbiological service laboratory intended for the agroforestry sector. All of our activities conform with the new measures that are being applied in these sectors.
Regulation (EU) 2019/109 was the first to define functional categories for agricultural products, separating chemical fertilizers from what are now called plant biostimulants.
These are defined as a substance or microorganism applied to plants to enance their efficiency in absorbing and assimilating nutrients, make them more tolerant to biotic and abiotic stress andim prove a particular agronomic characteristic, regardless of its nutrient content (Du Jardin, P. 2015. ‘Plant Biostimulants: Definition, Concept, Main Categories and Regulation’. Rev. Scientia Horticulturae, 196: 3-14).
Later, in June 2022 the European Commission adopted proposals for a new regulation on the sustainableuse of phytosanitary products. This was directly binding and uniformly applicable to all member states. It revises the existing regulations on the sustainable use of pesticides (Directive 2009/128/EC) to align them with the EU Green Deal, Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies. It includes the EU’s aim to reduce by 50% the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030. It also requires that new measures be adopted to guarantee that farmers and other professional users of pesticides practice integrated pest management, and prohibits all pesticides in sensitive areas, like parks, gardens, playgrounds and so forth. This forms part of a package of measures to reduce the environmental footprint of the food system in the EU and mitigate the economic losses being sustained due to climate change and the loss of biodiversity,in admision to bad soil management.
