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Plant biostimulants are borderline substances that play an intermediate role between plant protection products and fertilisers. At present, such substances are regulated by national laws and have different names in the various European Member States. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on the activity of these substances and on the national laws that regulate them, as they vary considerably from one Member State to another. The greatest difficulty in terms of the correct regulatory framework for these substances is related to their heterogeneity. This situation creates uncertainties for operators, control authorities and bodies that certify and control the organic production, and strongly limits the growth of these substances. This problem will be overcome with the amendment of Regulation EC No 2003/2003 which will shortly extend its scope to the category of plant biostimulants included within the fertilising additives.

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The integration of Agroecological Service Crops (ASCs) into agroecosystems can provide several ecological services, such as nutrient cycling and disease and weed management. A two-year experiment on an organic orchard was carried out to compare barley (B) and horse bean (HB) ASCs with a control without ASC (Cont) in combination with fertilizers. Their effects on soil fertility and weed- and soil-borne fungi communities were evaluated by direct measurements, visual estimation, and indicators computation. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify latent patterns and redundancy among variables, whereas a correlation analysis was used to discriminate the compared systems within the PCA matrix. The empirical results of this study put in evidence the correlation among soil, weed, and fungal variables. A slight contribution of fertilizers on the system’s variability was observed, whereas a clear effect of ASCs was highlighted. The systems differed in weed communities, with the lowest density associated to B and the highest to Cont. B showed the highest fungal diversity, with changes in community compared to HB. HB showed a contribution on soil fertility, being associated to organic matter increase and N availability, and evidencing mixed impacts on soil quality and ecosystem functioning. Overall, the above-ground diversity and below-ground community results were inter-correlated.