Two trials carried out by Richard Austin Agriculture trials manager, Michael Rodger, have demonstrated gains in yield of 9 percent and improved disease tolerance against cercospora leaf spot, rust and powdery mildew.

The plot trials were carried out in Lincolnshire during the 2024/25 growing season, using products from biostimulant specialist Orion FT.

“The best result in the yield trial came from using a combination of Sirius and Pluton. Sirius is a silicon-based biostimulant and Pluton is liquid plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) containing the naturally occurring bacteria Bacillus velezensis,” he says.

He suggests that green leaf coverage was much better than the control which was only given a standard fertiliser and fungicide.

“The plants treated with the biostimulants established faster and grew deeper seeking roots, which was of particular benefit in a year that we experienced severe drought conditions,” he says.

Four, 10-metre plots were used for the trial, and a full scale field trial is planned to further explore the effect of the biostimulants on sugar beet.

“These yield results are encouraging because we also saw the sugar content of the beet treated with Sirius and Pluton increase from 17.3 percent to almost 18,” he adds.

In a second trial carried out simultaneously, the same crop size was treated with Trident Plus, a biostimulant that incorporates copper, zinc and cobalt micronutrients, which are chelated using a natural citric polymer to boost nutrient uptake.

“Trident Plus was the best performing treatment for rust but we also treated a trial crop with Sirius and Pluton which showed better results for cercospora and powdery mildew. The key takeaway from both trials was that the plant was better equipped to deal with disease and pest pressures. Trident Plus performed better on overall yield, and we saw a 10 percent increase, but Sirius and Pluton were more effective at helping reduce cercospora and powdery mildew damage,” he says.

In the fungal disease trial, the control only received a herbicide and fertiliser, so adding the biostimulants was used as a biological alternative to fungicides.

“While 2024/25 was not a difficult year for fungal pressure because of the dry conditions, it was still impressive how, without a fungicide, the trial crop treated with biostimulants was able to perform so well,” he says.

With many farms looking for ways to reduce reliance on chemicals and find more sustainable solutions to common problems, the use of biostimulants is growing quickly.

“Resistance is becoming more prevalent and the cost of fungicides is only going to increase. Therefore, finding out that biostimulants can perform in this way, and offer yield and disease benefits, will give growers the confidence to consider biostimulants more closely,” he concludes.