Open AccessThe end of hunger: fertilizers, microbes and plant productivity
Author(s) -
Hu HangWei,
Chen QingLin,
He JiZheng
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
microbial biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.287
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 1751-7915
DOI - 10.1111/1751-7915.13973
Subject(s) - food security , agriculture , productivity , biodiversity , agricultural productivity , microbial inoculant , business , microbiome , sustainable agriculture , population , natural resource economics , agroforestry , microbiology and biotechnology , environmental science , biology , ecology , economics , economic growth , bioinformatics , genetics , bacteria , demography , sociology
Summary It is a grand challenge to ensure the food security for a predicted world population of exceeding 9.7 billion by 2050, especially in an era of global climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss. Current agricultural productions are mainly relying on synthetic chemical fertilisers to boost plant productivity but have undesirable effects on the environment and soil biodiversity. A promising direction in sustainable agriculture is to harness naturally occurring processes of beneficial plant‐associated microbiomes to ensure sustained crop production and global food security. Despite the significant progress made in the development of beneficial microbes as inoculants to enhance plant performance, challenges remain with the translation of knowledge of plant and soil microbiomes to successful microbial products in the agricultural sector. Here, we highlight how fertilizer technology should be renovated by harnessing microbiome‐based innovations to promote plant productivity and contribute to the end of hunger.