Abstract
Globally, despite the intense agricultural production, the output is expected to be limited by emerging infectious plant diseases and adverse impacts of climate change. The annual increase in agricultural output to sustain the human population at the expense of the environment has exacerbated the current climate conditions and threatened food security. The demand for sustainable agricultural practice is further augmented with the exclusion of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Therefore, the application of plant microbiome engineering and (natural) biostimulants has been at the forefront as an environment-friendly approach to enhance crop production and increase crop tolerance to adverse environmental conditions. In this article, we explore the application of microbiome engineering and plant biostimulants as a sustainable approach to mitigating biotic and abiotic stresses and improving nutrient use efficiency to promote plant growth and increase crop yield. The advancement/understanding in plant-biostimulant interaction relies on the current scientific research to elucidate the extent of benefits conferred by these biostimulants under adverse conditions.
Highlights
Crop productivity will see a 60–100% increase by 2050 to meet the projected global population of 9.7 billion [1]
Chitosan biostimulants have been shown to increase the height, root length and biomass in rice [102]. These findings suggest that plant biostimulants (PBs) are a promising biotechnology tool to improve plant growth, yield, and quality in field conditions [101]
The promotive effect of microbial consortia and PBs to mitigate the deleterious impacts of stresses on crop growth and yield have been reported for many years
Summary
Crop productivity will see a 60–100% increase by 2050 to meet the projected global population of 9.7 billion [1]. Given that the current farmers’ management practices are inadequate to meet global food demand and cope with the agricultural vulnerability due to climatic change, significant innovations are imperative to ensure sustainable crop production and food security. Induced mutagenesis has been used to develop new varieties with improved agronomic characteristics, such as increased stress tolerance potential and bio-fortification [8] This approach is one of the most efficient tools in increasing the genetic variability for desired traits in various food crops. Genetic engineering or genome editing approaches are undoubtedly an alternative to counter losses in crop yield caused by global climate change Their use is strictly restricted or not legally permitted in several countries [9]. We provide an overview of microbiome engineering and plant biostimulants (PBs) and discuss how microbiome engineering and biostimulants can mitigate environmental stress and improve declining crop production
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