We are growing rapidly and our population is expected to cross nine billion by 2050. The current trend of food production is insufficient to sustain global demand for food. One study has estimated that crop production must be augmented by 60% in the next 40 years. This problem is compounded by climate change. Scientists are of the view that the application of microorganisms as biostimulants will be more effective at increasing crop productivity than genetic manipulation of plants. Beneficial microbes applied to plants would induce tolerance to different biotic and abiotic stresses and improve yield without damaging the environment, unlike the chemical inputs. Treatment of crops with microbes and/or microbial consortia may trigger nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophore, phytohormone, and exopolysaccharide production which are known to have growth-enhancing traits while protecting the plant from different biotic and abiotic stresses, e.g., extreme temperature, pH, salinity, drought plus heavy metal, and pesticide pollution. Omics studies will enable us to understand basic mechanisms regulating the complex plant-microbe interactions that would help us to improve the next generation of plant biostimulants or new microbial consortium suitable for sustaining the agroecosystem while improving the quantity and quality of yield. We need to understand and manipulate the microbiome of agricultural and horticultural plants. Efforts should be made to know them well and to apply effective beneficial microbes isolated from the rhizosphere, phyllosphere, endophytes, etc as biostimulants for equipping the plants to overcome stresses arising out of climate change. Days are not too far when we will have large-scale production of plant probiotics to solve problems in the agriculture and horticulture sector.
There is a concern all over the globe about the negative impact of climate change on crop productivity and diseases. Plant vigor depends upon environmental, climatic, and edaphic factors. Research in the past decade has stressed finding the role of soil microbiome on plant health and productivity and now it is well-established fact that microbes play a pivotal role in improving resistance, tolerance, and resilience of plants under different biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Plant probiotics have the potential to help farmers improve crop productivity with fewer chemical inputs. They will also help to develop an environmentally-friendly-sustainable-alternative to chemical fertilizers that will not only maintain soil health but also promote the concept of organic farming. A substantial amount of research relating to different aspects of probiotics has been carried out so far. There is, however, little information focusing on problems related to formulations, field applications, biosafety, regulatory frameworks, etc. of plant probiotics.
We welcome article submissions that contain the following scientific themes on plant probiotics:
• Role of plant-microbe interactions in the development of climate resilience cropping system
• Recent updates on the mechanism of cross-talk between microbes and plants
• Integration of microbial communities with the host plants for the global change
• Biotechnological potential of plant-associated endophytic fungi and bacteria for crop improvement
• Application of endophytes for crop disease control
• Plant microbiome and stress alleviation in crops
• Biosafety Problems and limitations of application of microorganisms in crop production and methods of delivery Quality control
• Methods of formulation of microbial consortium, selection of carriers and screening of potent strains
• The commercial potential of plant probiotics and the role of governments in promoting plant probiotics
We are growing rapidly and our population is expected to cross nine billion by 2050. The current trend of food production is insufficient to sustain global demand for food. One study has estimated that crop production must be augmented by 60% in the next 40 years. This problem is compounded by climate change. Scientists are of the view that the application of microorganisms as biostimulants will be more effective at increasing crop productivity than genetic manipulation of plants. Beneficial microbes applied to plants would induce tolerance to different biotic and abiotic stresses and improve yield without damaging the environment, unlike the chemical inputs. Treatment of crops with microbes and/or microbial consortia may trigger nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophore, phytohormone, and exopolysaccharide production which are known to have growth-enhancing traits while protecting the plant from different biotic and abiotic stresses, e.g., extreme temperature, pH, salinity, drought plus heavy metal, and pesticide pollution. Omics studies will enable us to understand basic mechanisms regulating the complex plant-microbe interactions that would help us to improve the next generation of plant biostimulants or new microbial consortium suitable for sustaining the agroecosystem while improving the quantity and quality of yield. We need to understand and manipulate the microbiome of agricultural and horticultural plants. Efforts should be made to know them well and to apply effective beneficial microbes isolated from the rhizosphere, phyllosphere, endophytes, etc as biostimulants for equipping the plants to overcome stresses arising out of climate change. Days are not too far when we will have large-scale production of plant probiotics to solve problems in the agriculture and horticulture sector.
There is a concern all over the globe about the negative impact of climate change on crop productivity and diseases. Plant vigor depends upon environmental, climatic, and edaphic factors. Research in the past decade has stressed finding the role of soil microbiome on plant health and productivity and now it is well-established fact that microbes play a pivotal role in improving resistance, tolerance, and resilience of plants under different biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Plant probiotics have the potential to help farmers improve crop productivity with fewer chemical inputs. They will also help to develop an environmentally-friendly-sustainable-alternative to chemical fertilizers that will not only maintain soil health but also promote the concept of organic farming. A substantial amount of research relating to different aspects of probiotics has been carried out so far. There is, however, little information focusing on problems related to formulations, field applications, biosafety, regulatory frameworks, etc. of plant probiotics.
We welcome article submissions that contain the following scientific themes on plant probiotics:
• Role of plant-microbe interactions in the development of climate resilience cropping system
• Recent updates on the mechanism of cross-talk between microbes and plants
• Integration of microbial communities with the host plants for the global change
• Biotechnological potential of plant-associated endophytic fungi and bacteria for crop improvement
• Application of endophytes for crop disease control
• Plant microbiome and stress alleviation in crops
• Biosafety Problems and limitations of application of microorganisms in crop production and methods of delivery Quality control
• Methods of formulation of microbial consortium, selection of carriers and screening of potent strains
• The commercial potential of plant probiotics and the role of governments in promoting plant probiotics
