Plant growth stimulators (growth regulators + biostimulants; PGS) are chemical substances (organic/inorganic), helpful in plant growth and development. These are not considered as the replacement of fertilizers but can help in improved crop and soil quality. Both compounds can amplify the root biomass, nutrients translocation, enzymatic activities, crop yield, physiology, and nutrient uptake. Biostimulants are rich in minerals, vitamins, plant hormones, oligosaccharides, and amino acids. These compounds have a serious role to improve soil health, fertility, sorption, and desorption of nutrients. Hence, have a vital character in nutrients cycling, abiotic stress control, heavy metals bioavailability, and greenhouse gaseous emission. This chapter focuses on the discussions about the influence of plant growth regulators and biostimulants in crop production, soil health, heavy metal cycling, greenhouse gases emission with environmental sustainability. Whereas, the impact of biostimulants on greenhouse gases is a research gap.
Part of the book: Technology in Agriculture
Climate change is an emerging issue for modern agriculture and has generated biotic and abiotic stresses for plants such as cold, high temperature, heat, drought, uneven rainfall, and UV radiations. In addition to these, serious stress factors are emerging related to water availability, nutrient cycling, salinity-sodicity, and pest attacks. In recent years, such phenomena have attracted the research community to avoid the fatal influence of climate change on crop production and obtain more food helping in fulfillment of increasing food demand of population surge. The anthropogenic activities in the agroecosystem are among the major causes for global warming and proportion in climate change. Therefore, it is assumed that identifying various plant hormones and their utilization to improve plant metabolic activities would help maintain plant growth, survival, and production under severe climate change circumstances. This chapter focuses on identifying the key aspects of plant hormones to retard the negative impacts of climate change and support sustainable agriculture.
Part of the book: Plant Hormones