The subject of the invention is the use, in small doses in the soil, of catalysts, for the purpose of accelerating the process of plant germination and development. The catalyst may be an oxide of a transition element between the element of atomic mass 21 and that of atomic mass 58, as well as thorium, either in pure form or in the form of mixed substance or heterogenous mixture with a compound of the same type or these compounds in which the metal element is a nontransition element. These products can be used in a variety of ways: incorporation into the soil, suspension in water or in aquatic medium, direct coating of the seed or of the appropriate part of an already developed plant.
