Production of Organic Biostimulants from Atlantic Seaweed

Nowadays, natural, sustainable, or environmentally friendly agriculture practices are becoming increasingly popular, where seaweed biostimulants could play a vital role in providing plant nutrition and responding against diseases, pests, and abiotic stresses. North Atlantic seaweeds have a high potential to be a candidate in the biostimulants market since they have a wide range of nutrients to influence plant nutrition. The available inorganic fertilizers/ biostimulants can easily upset the entire ecosystem by creating a toxic buildup of chemicals, contaminating water supplies, and disrupting aquatic life. Hence, the proposed project will develop organic biostimulants from North Atlantic seaweed species since they are traditionally used as fertilizer, though no commercial products are available in the market. A novel pre-treatment method will be used to develop biostimulants to increase the yield of extraction without disrupting any nutrients. Farmers can incorporate this sustainable approach into their farming systems and minimize the use of inorganic biostimulant/ pesticides.

Faculty Supervisor:

Deepika Dave

Student:

Partner:

Springboard Atlantic Inc.

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Aquaculture and Fishing; Biomanufacturing

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program: