Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms For Sustainable Agricultural Production

Sustainable increase in agricultural production while keeping the environmental quality, agro-ecosystem function and biodiversity is a real challenge in current agricultural practices. Application of PGPR can help in meeting the expected demand for increasing agricultural productivity to feed the world’s booming population. Global concern over the demerits of chemicals in agriculture has diverted the attention of researchers towards sustainable agriculture by utilizing the potential of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR). Use of PGPR as biofertilizers, biopesticides, soil, and plant health managers has gained considerable agricultural and commercial significance. The book Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR): Prospects for Sustainable Agriculture has contributions in the form of book chapter from 25 eminent global researchers, that discusses about the PGPRs and their role in growth promotion of various crop plants, suppression of wide range of phytopathogens, their formulation, effect of various factors on growth and performance of PGPR, assessment of diversity of PGPR through microsatellites and role of PGPR in mitigating biotic and abiotic stress.This book will be helpful for students, teachers, researchers, and entrepreneurs involved in PGPR and allied fields. The book will be highly useful to researchers, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.

Role of Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms in Sustainable Agriculture and Nanotechnology explores PGPMs (actinomycetes, bacteria, fungi and cyanobacteria) and their multidimensional roles in agriculture, including their increasing applications in sustainable agriculture. In addition to their traditional understanding and applications in agriculture, PGPMs are increasingly known as a source of nano-particles production that are gaining significant interest in their ability to provide more economically, environmentally friendly and safe technologies to crop growers. The book considers new concepts and current developments in plant growth, thus promoting microorganisms research and evaluating its implications for sustainable productivity. Users will find this to be an invaluable resource for researchers in applied microbial biotechnology, soil science, nano-technology of microbial strains, and industry personnel in these areas. Presents basic and applied aspects of sustainable agriculture, including nano-technology in sustainable agriculture Identifies molecular tools/omics approaches for enhancing plant growth promoting microorganisms Discusses plant growth promoting microorganisms in bioactive compounds production, and as a source of nano-particles

To meet the food security needs of the 21st century, this book focuses on ecofriendly and sustainable production technologies based on plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). It is estimated that the global population could increase to 9 billion by 2050. Further, the amount of land devoted to farming has decreased. Soil is a living entity, and is not only a valuable natural resource for agricultural and food security, but also for the preservation of all life processes. Agricultural productivity rests on the foundation of microbial diversity in the soil, and in recent years, PGPR have emerged as an important and promising tool for sustainable agriculture. The injudicious use of agrochemicals by farmers has created a range of negative impacts, not only threatening the environment, but also destroying useful microorganisms in the soil. The efficient use of PGPR reduces the need for these chemicals while simultaneously lowering production costs. In turn, increased yields could provide a more favourable environment and encourage sustainability. This book assesses the impacts of PGPR on crops, environmental and socio-economic sustainability, and demonstrates these ecofriendly technologies’ three critical advantages, namely (a) enhanced crop productivity, (b) reduced application of agrochemicals, and (c) increased incomes for farmers. Besides offering an economically attractive and ecologically sound means of augmenting the nutrient supply and combatting soil-borne pathogens, PGPR play an important part in boosting soil fertility, bioremediation and stress management for the development of ecofriendly and sustainable agriculture.

Plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPM) have gained acceptance and importance due to their dual benefits of promoting plant growth in addition to managing plant pests and diseases and are extensively used as microbial inoculants in improving agricultural productivity. Use of PGPM mixtures and their integration with other means, like host resistance and chemicals, has proven to be more useful in management of several disease problems. Successful greenhouse and field demonstrations have been done using PGPM for growth promotion and resistance induction in various crops, against a broad spectrum of pathogens. Practical use of PGPM-based products has advanced and many formulations are made available in commercial scale, and more are currently under development. Further, novel formulation technologies have been formulated. Microorganisms constitute the major players in the rhizosphere and their composition and biomass significantly alters the plants response to the environment. Composition and interaction of rhizomicroflora with its surroundings highly influences plant health and productivity. Such beneficial rhizo-ecosystems engineering and manipulation of the rhizosphere to exploit or enhance this innate genetic potential, which will most probably play a key role in the future development of sustainable agricultural processes, is also reviewed. In recent years, a substantial amount of work has been done in the area of PGPM and voluminous literature is available. This book presents a methodical, comprehensive and latest research survey in this area. An overview of the scale and impact of PGPM in plant growth promotion and management of crop diseases, focusing attention on details most relevant to the development and application of biological control strategies involving various microbial strains is discussed. Problems and prospects of commercialisation, advantages and disadvantages of their use and their potential for integrated pest management are also outlined. Most of the available books either refer to the subject of plant growth promoting fungi or plant growth promoting bacteria, however, this comprehensive book includes research pertaining to all beneficial microorganisms that are plant growth promoting in nature. Moreover, this is a rapidly developing field of research and has global impact. Therefore, keeping in pace with the latest developments in this area is totally necessary, and this book will be a latest and up-to-date compilation of the research from different parts of the world.

Pollutants are increasing day by day in the environment due to human interference. Thus, it has become necessary to find solutions to clean up these hazardous pollutants to improve human, animal, and plant health. Microbial Biotechnology in Environmental Monitoring and Cleanup is a critical scholarly resource that examines the toxic hazardous substances and their impact on the environment. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as pollution of microorganisms, phytoremediation, and bioremediation, this book is geared towards academics, professionals, graduate students, and practitioners interested in emerging techniques for environmental decontamination.

Over the last few decades, the prevalence of studies about plant growth has dramatically grown in most regions of the world. Many aspects have been investigated related to this phenomenon. If we can gain understanding of how plants grow, then we may be able to manipulate it to reduce both chemical fertilizer use and its environmental impact without decreasing the yield. This book provides information about the use of bio-agents, plant health, plant pathogen, property of melanin, and the influence of rootstock and root growth. We hope this information will be useful for all the people who work with this hot topic.

Increasing agro productivity to feed a growing global population under the present climate scenario requires optimizing the use of resources and adopting sustainable agricultural production. This can be achieved by using plant beneficial bacteria, i.e., those bacteria that enhance plant growth under abiotic stress conditions, and more specifically, microorganisms such as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), which are the most promising candidates in this regard. Attaining sustainable agricultural production while preserving environmental quality, agro-ecosystem functions and biodiversity represents a major challenge for current agricultural practices; further, the traditional use of chemical inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, nutrients etc.) poses serious threats to crop productivity, soil fertility and the nutritional value of farm produce. Given these risks, managing pests and diseases, maintaining agro-ecosystem health, and avoiding health issues for humans and animals have now become key priorities. The use of PGPR as biofertilizers, plant growth promoters, biopesticides, and soil and plant health managers has attracted considerable attention among researchers, agriculturists, farmers, policymakers and consumers alike. Using PGPR can help meet the expected demand for global agricultural productivity to feed the world’s booming population, which is predicted to reach roughly 9 billion by 2050. However, to do so, PGPR strains must be safe for the environment, offer considerable plant growth promotion and biocontrol potential, be compatible with useful soil rhizobacteria, and be able to withstand various biotic and abiotic stresses. Accordingly, the book also highlights the need for better strains of PGPR to complement increasing agro-productivity.