Trichoderma-enriched organic fertilizer can mitigate microbiome degeneration of monocropped soil to maintain better plant growth

Abstract

Aims: Investigating shifts in soil microbiomes driven by different fertilization regimes would be helpful for lessening the negative effect of monoculture in agricultural systems. Methods: In the present work, we employed MiSeq sequencing to evaluate the response of local microbial communities to three different fertilization regimes, i.e., heavy chemical fertilizer application (CF) and reduced chemical fertilizer applications supplemented with organic (OF) or Trichoderma-enriched organic fertilizer (BF), in a continuous five-season pot experiment on tomato. Results: The CF-treated soil resulted in a bacterial community with the lowest diversity, while the BF-treated soil had the highest diversity level. The OF-treated soil had the lowest diversity in the fungal community, while the CF- and BF-treated soils had higher diversity. Moreover, better plant growth and soil fertility status were obtained in the BF treatment followed by the OF and CF treatments. Conclusions: Compared to the CF and OF regimes, reduced chemical fertilizer plus Trichoderma-enriched organic fertilizer (BF) is the most suitable regime to control microbiome degeneration of monocropped soil and to thus maintain tomato plant growth and health.