THE ROLE OF PLANT BIOSTIMULANTS AND GROWTH REGULATORS IN CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRICULTURE: A REVIEW

Abstract

The need for the most up-to-date, environmentally friendly techniques of controlling plant diseases and pests necessitates keeping an eye out for effective tools that provide a safe environment for human and animal fitness. In recent years, the usage of plant biostimulants (BS), which are derived from various organic materials through hydrolysis reactions, has increased. Soil microbes and plants immediately absorb these Biostimulants, which often consist of peptides, amino acids, polysaccharides, humic acids and phytohormones  with less energy requirement. This benefits not only growth but also the yield and quality of the harvested grain or fruit. These items are intended to promote and increase plant metabolism, reduce stress, etc., rather than to supply nutrients. These days, a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses hinder plant development, seed germination and seedling growth due to shifting climatic conditions, which reduces biological and economic yields. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) helps plant in mitigating different abiotic stresses and also enhances the adaptability of plants in stress conditions. A variety of PGRs, including ethylene (ET), salicylic acid (SA), abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonates (JAs), are linked to improving plants' ability to respond to various stimuli. On the other hand, under both normal and stressful environmental conditions, PGRs like auxin, cytokinins (CKs), gibberellins (GAs) and relatively novel PGRs like strigolactones (SLs) and brassinosteroids (BRs) are engaged in plant growth and development. These PGRs are crucial for regulating stress adaptation through modulates physiological, biochemical  and molecular processes and activation of the defense system, upregulating of transcript levels, transcription factors, metabolism genes, and stress proteins at cellular levels.