Toward a Microbe-Assisted Crop Production

Abstract

For a long time, microbial applications in crop production focused primarily on the symbiosis between mycorrhizal fungi and plants and the relationship between N2-fixing rhizobia and legumes. However, plant-associated microorganisms and microbiomes in general have lately gained immense attention, and the available information on the ecology and functions of microbiomes in the soil and plant environment exploded in the last decade. With this understanding, researchers as well as the industry have realized the vast potential of microorganisms to be used in agriculture and most importantly, to make farming more sustainable. Microorganisms have been shown to be applicable for plant protection and to improve plant nutrition. As a consequence, microbiome management can help to replace agrochemicals and increase environmental and human health. Furthermore, agriculture is facing various challenges related to climate change such as drought or emerging pathogens. Also, for these scenarios, microorganisms may find application to alleviate various abiotic and biotic stresses. [Graphic: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Keywords

• biocontrol
• microbial inoculant
• plant–microbe interactions
• plant microbiome
• plant nutrition