Sumita Pal

Bio-priming Mediated Nutrient Use Efficiency of Crop Species

Soil contamination and environmental hazard from the indiscriminate and excessive application of agrochemicals on crops have been key issues for the present-day agriculture. Additionally, the risk to human health has also led to stringent regulatory framework around the use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture. Bio-inoculants have emerged as the most feasible eco-friendly solution to these issues and have been gaining considerable consumer acceptance since the time they were first introduced. Bioagents are substances containing living microorganisms which promote plant growth and maintain the soil and crop health by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant. Bio-priming which involves seed priming in combination with low dosage of beneficial microorganisms is becoming a potentially prominent technique to induce profound changes in versatility of plant performance, encourage desired attributes in crop growth, and stabilize the efficacy of biological agents in the present fragile setup of agriculture by reducing dependency on chemical inputs and offers an attractive option for resource-poor farmers being an easy and cost effective method. The most prominent contributors in fungi and bacteria which are used extensively in bio-priming include Trichoderma, Pseudomonas, Glomus, Bacillus, Agrobacterium, and Gliocladium. Here in this review, we discuss the potential of bio-priming for improving crop growth and nutrient use efficiency and provide an assessment of bioagents currently used with crop species and key limitations involved.

Bioremediation of Soils Contaminated with Ni and Cd: An Overview

Environmental pollution due to heavy metals (HM) is a concern globally since this may lead to geoaccumulation, bioaccumulation, and biomagnifications in ecosystems as they can penetrate the food sequence via anthropogenic actions such as continuous addition of waste water, sewage sludge application, and purification of metals. These metals have been widely studied and their effects on soil-plant-animal continuum regularly reviewed with varied perspective. In the present review, we sum up contemporary knowledge about bioremediation of heavy metals in particular nickel (Ni) and cadmium (Cd) which are potential soil and water pollutants. Among the different bioremediation options available phytoremediation emerges as a sustainable and inexpensive technology. On the other hand, as phytoremediation is a dawdling process, enhancement of efficiency and for augmented stabilization or removal of HMs from soils arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi afford a smart system to press forward plant-based environmental clean-up.

Addressing Stresses in Agriculture Through Bio-priming Intervention

Concurrent occurrences of different stresses, i.e. biotic and abiotic, are very common in the environment of plants which consequently reduce yield. As cost-effective options are very limited, bio-priming is a suitable tool to address the numerous challenges associated with agriculture. Plant growth benefits are easily attainable through this technique while managing the natural resources and enhancing the environmental sustainability.

Toward an Integrated Resource Management: Harnessing Trichoderma for Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture

Trichoderma has proved its diverse role in agriculture as an efficient microorganism to overcome numerous challenges associated with it. Being ubiquitous in nature, studies conducted on it are totally safe and involve low-cost implementation. Initially the research works highlighted this microbe as a suitable biocontrol agent against most phytopathogens. Many strains of Trichoderma have been successfully screened out for its beneficial effects on soil fertility and plant health aspects, but we need an environment which is free of pollution, and therefore focusing on multiple functions of Trichoderma to fight against various biotic and abiotic stresses and the hazardous pollutants which can affect our food chain is important to maintain sustainability. This mini review attempts to include the potentials of Trichoderma in present and upcoming condition of resource management.

Commercialization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Technology in Agriculture and Forestry

The ecto- and endomycorrhizal fungi are commonly occurring mycorrhizas and are very significant in relation to the growth of agricultural crops and forest trees. Mycorrhizal technology can advantageously be applied in agricultural and horticultural crops as well as forestry for better nutrient utilization offsetting ecological and environmental concerns by reduced chemical input use, disease management by reducing biotic stress by pathogenic fungi, and more effective land use management. However, even though the inoculation of plants with mycorrhiza is a familiar practice, the formulation of inocula with a dependable and steady effect under field situation is still a bottleneck for their wider use. The option of the technology for inocula production and of the carrier for the formulation is key to their booming application. In this review, we focus on the status of commercialization of mycorrhizal fungi as a gadget for enhancing plant growth and productivity.

Joint Ventures of Plants and Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Creating an Underground Revolution

Roots of most terrestrial plants form symbiotic associations with fungi which are prevalent and abundant and are omnipresent in most temperate and tropical ecosystems including agricultural systems. These ubiquitous symbiosis, called mycorrhizas which are formed by bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms, function as conduits for the flow of energy and matter between plants and soils. Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) symbiosis is receiving increased attention as a potential contributor to sustainable crop plant nutrition. Not only that, mycorrhizae aid in the absorption of micronutrients, excretespecific enzymes, restrict access to various pathogenic organisms and produce antibiotics to retard their growth, scour the surrounding earth for available water, and convert tightly bound nutrients such as phosphorous from mineral soils into forms that can be used by the plant. In return, plant allocates up to 20% of its photosynthate to the roots to support the fungus. AM is likely to prove to be the epicentre of a new revolution that the planet is in dire need for minimising the usage of chemical input on soil and helping the landscape adapt to climate change.