Managing soil fertility through microbes: Prospects, challenges and future strategies

Abstract

Soil fertility is the inherent capacity of a soil to provide the essential plant nutrients in adequate amounts and proper proportions for plant growth. There is an immense possibility to enhance soil fertility through microbes, as microbes are "built-in" soil regulators and catalysts contributing to recycling of nutrients into available inorganic forms and provide early warning of land degradation. The focus of this chapter is on the prospect of using microbes as decomposers (cellulose, protein and lignin), formers (humus, nitrate and nitrite), nitrogen fixers, ammonifiers, oxidizers (iron, hydrogen and sulfur), phosphorus solubilizers and denitrifiers. In this context, the factors viz. environmental contaminants and climate change that limit the enhancement of soil fertility through microbes are also discussed. In the latter part of the chapter, the strategies like practising organic farming, zero-tillage, mixed cropping, nano-biofertilizer, biopesticides and soil carbon sequestration for management of soil fertility through microbes are highlighted.