Chapter 18 - Role of microbial consortia in remediation of soil, water and environmental pollution caused by indiscriminate use of chemicals in agriculture: Opportunities and challenges

Abstract

After Green Revolution, the usage of chemical pesticides and fertilizers has been increased to enhance the yield of crops to feed the burgeoning world’s population by managing several pests. But the increase in anthropogenic activities has led to increased pollution on the earth’s surface through indiscriminate use of the harmful chemicals. Excess and improper disposal of nutrients and toxic compounds not only hampers the physical and chemical properties of soil, but also pollute the ground water via surface runoff or leaching which directly or indirectly affects lives of plants, animals, birds, marine organisms and human beings allowing bio amplification to damage the ecological structure. Stubble burning is another harmful approach to achieve extensive cropping which pollutes the environment by producing greenhouse gases and also affects the beneficial soil microorganisms and crop development. However, chemical contaminants can be eradicated from polluted soil and water by the use of efficient microorganisms. Microorganisms degrade the complex toxic compounds with the aid of enzymes into simple, non-toxic inorganic compounds and they are very efficient in decomposing the crop residues. However, for rapid degradation, research has been focused on microbial consortium comprising of more than one microorganism to enhance the efficiency of biodegradation due to their capacity for synergistic metabolism. In this book chapter, we have discussed about several applications microbial consortia in remediation of soil, water and environmental pollution caused by indiscriminate use of chemicals in agriculture.