Abstract
Knowledge of the agricultural soil microbiota, of the microbial consortia that comprise it, and the promotion of agricultural practices that maintain and encourage them, is a promising way to improve soil quality for sustainable agriculture and to provide food security. Although numerous studies have demonstrated the positive effects of beneficial soil microorganisms on crop yields and quality, the use of microbial consortia in agriculture remains low. Microbial consortia have more properties than an individual microbial inoculum, due to the synergy of the microorganisms that populate them. This review describes the main characteristics, ecosystem functions, crop benefits, and biotechnological applications of microbial consortia composed of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), and Actinobacteria, to promote the restoration of agricultural soils and, consequently, the quality and health of agricultural crops. The aim is to provide knowledge that will contribute to the development of sustainable and sufficiently productive agriculture, which will adapt in a good way to the pace of the growing human population and to climate change.
Highlights
Conventional agriculture and its practices are presented as a major threat to soil vitality [1], causing the alteration of microbial functional diversity and worldwide soil degradation, threatening the food chain and safety [2,3,4]
Soil acidification caused by the excessive application of minerals and nutrients, frequently used under plastic covers, increases the negative effect on soil quality over time, resulting in lower crop yields [8,9]
This review aims at describing the main characteristics, ecosystem functions, crop benefits, and biotechnological applications of microbial consortia composed of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, and Actinobacteria, to promote sustainable agriculture and the quality and health of agricultural crops
Summary
Conventional agriculture and its practices are presented as a major threat to soil vitality [1], causing the alteration of microbial functional diversity and worldwide soil degradation, threatening the food chain and safety [2,3,4]. The intensification of agriculture through excessive and sometimes inappropriate use of chemical pesticides has led to land degradation and environmental pollution in several agroecosystems, which have contaminated water bodies and degraded soils, subsequently leading to the loss of biodiversity by killing beneficial plants, animals, insects, aquatic ecosystem, and other wildlife, and in some cases even poisoning the farm workers [5,6,7] Another example is intensive agriculture under plastic covers, which profoundly affects soil quality because it greatly alters the water cycle as well as organic carbon (C) and other nutrient contents. Increasing attention has been given to crops rich in nutrients, minerals, antioxidants, or other metabolites, as they represent a higher food quality and reduce the risk of chronic diseases [28,29,30] In this context, new crop practices have emerged that allow obtaining high yields of biomass with a high concentration of beneficial metabolites. This review aims at describing the main characteristics, ecosystem functions, crop benefits, and biotechnological applications of microbial consortia composed of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, and Actinobacteria, to promote sustainable agriculture and the quality and health of agricultural crops
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
