Tropical Crops and Microbes

Abstract

Sustaining crop production in order to meet the growing demand of the teeming populace in the tropics has been one of the utmost goals of Scientists nowadays since the conversion of the tropical ecosystems to other uses has posed serious threat to it. Crops that were either introduced or adopted to the tropical nations by the European conquerors are referred to as tropical crops. The ubiquitous nature of microorganisms has made the soil to be one of their habitats or reservoirs. Microorganisms belonging to bacteria, fungi, protozoa, micro-algae, and viruses inhabit the soil. In crop production, beneficial soil microbes have been used as biofertilizers, biopesticides, and phytostimulators and also increase resilience in plants. Biofertilizers obtained from effective and indigenous microorganism have been used to improve and maintain the biological, chemical, and physical properties of cropland soils, which in turn improve crop growth and yields. Plants also contribute to the population of microbes in the soil by supplying them carbon from their photosynthates. The mutual relationship between beneficial microbes and plants cannot be underestimated in improving crop growth and yields in threatened tropical ecosystem.