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Soil Potassium Availability and Role of Microorganisms in Influencing Potassium Availability to Plants

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Role of Potassium in Abiotic Stress

Abstract

The availability of potassium in soils is of prime importance in maintaining the balance between nutrient use efficiency and sustainable agriculture. The potassium-solubilizing microorganisms (KSMs) play a significant role in the solubilization of fixed K. The site for solubilization and mineralization is the rhizospheric region and is referred to as biological hotspot. A range of bacterial and fungal strains are efficient K solubilizers regulating the nutrient flow by converting the insoluble K into its soluble forms and as a result show effective interaction between soil and plant system. Hence KSMs promote plant growth and yield, lessen the use of agrochemicals and reduce environmental pollution caused by leaching and over-fertilization. According to recent research on nutrient use efficiency, there will always be an incessant growing gap between the use and supply of nutrient, and so efforts are needed to ensure the nutrient requirement of plants and enhance the nutrient use efficiency. Hence the application of microbial inoculants is of great significance in promoting the agriculture productivity. More studies are needed for the identification of such new microbial strains and also understanding their mechanism of application to the agricultural lands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Samina Mazahar

  2. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

    Shahid Umar

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  1. Samina Mazahar
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  2. Shahid Umar
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

    Noushina Iqbal

  2. Department of Botany, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

    Shahid Umar

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Mazahar, S., Umar, S. (2022). Soil Potassium Availability and Role of Microorganisms in Influencing Potassium Availability to Plants. In: Iqbal, N., Umar, S. (eds) Role of Potassium in Abiotic Stress. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4461-0_4

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