Perspectives of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in growth enhancement and sustainable production of tomato

Abstract

Tomato is an important horticultural product with a high content of bioactive compounds such as folate, ascorbate, polyphenols, and carotenoids and many other essential nutrients. Due to these, tomatoes are considered extremely valuable to human health. To optimize tomato production, chemical fertilizers and pesticides are frequently used. These chemicals are however, destructive for both crops and soil ecosystems. A reduction of these detrimental practices is therefore urgently required to protect both tomato and environments from damaging effects of agrochemicals. In this context, microbial inoculation especially those consisting of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) could be used to replace chemical fertilizers/pesticides. Also, PGPR can be integrated with such chemical practices to reduce their application in tomato cultivation. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria that naturally inhabit the rhizosphere stimulate the growth and development of tomato plants directly or indirectly via availability of many essential plant nutrients, phytohormones, or through suppression/ destruction of plant diseases. A better understanding of the plant growth-promotion activity of these bacterial strains is likely to enhance the production of safe, fresh, and high-quality tomatoes while reducing chemical inputs in different agronomic setups.