Rhizocompetence of applied bioinoculants

Abstract

Concomitant with the demand for chemical free food, the demand for bioinoculants for plant growth promotion and protection against pests and disease causing organisms has also seen a phenomenal increase. This has led to the mushrooming of several products in the market that have met with varying degrees of success. Very often it has been observed that inoculant strains that perform exceedingly well under laboratory conditions fail under field conditions. This can be primarily attributed to the utilization of non-rhizocompetent strains. Since the inoculated strain has to compete with a multitude of native microbes in the rhizospheric region, strains lacking rhizocompetence traits often fail to establish and perform in the rhizosphere. Rhizocompetence traits such as biofilm formation, sidero- phore production, antagonism, ability to utilize root exudates, motility, and protease activity can prove to be game changers under field conditions. This chapter attempts to highlight the importance of rhizocompetence traits in inoculant selection and development, in order to harness the benefit of applied inoculants.