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Biofertilizers to Improve Soil Health and Crop Yields

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Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 61

Part of the book series: Sustainable Agriculture Reviews ((SARV,volume 61))

Abstract

Current soil management practices depend highly on mineral fertilizers, which are costly and unsustainable. Alternatively, eco-friendly strategies such as applications of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, endo-mycorrhizal fungi, cyanobacteria, and other beneficial microorganisms, have recently emerged to enhance nutrient uptake and plant tolerance to abiotic stress. These biofertilizers have thus become vital in agriculture due to their potential to improve food safety. Here we review the role of biofertilizers in improving soil health and sustainable agriculture production. Applying biofertilizers promotes plant water and uptake, growth, and tolerance to abiotic and biotic factors. We explain how biofertilizers control crop functional attributes such as growth and yield of plants, nutrient characteristics, plant defensive performance and protection. Here we focus the activation of growths and defense-related genes in the signaling network of cellular pathways, causing cellular response and thus crop improvement.

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Abbreviations

PGPR:

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria

AARI:

Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan

NIAB:

Nuclear Institute of Agriculture and Biology, Faisalabad, Pakistan

ACC-deaminase:

Amino cyclopropane-carboxylic acid

NIBGE:

National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan

NARC:

National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan

ISES:

Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Agriculture, South China Agriculture University, Guangzhou, China

    Anas Iqbal & Xiangru Tang

  2. College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, China

    Anas Iqbal, Izhar Ali & Ligeng Jiang

  3. Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Crop Production Sciences, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Muhammad Izhar Shafi

  4. Department of Soil & Climate Sciences, Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, The University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan

    Mazhar Rafique,  Waqar-un-Nisa & Ayesha Jabeen

  5. Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, The University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan

    Sofia Asif

  6. Department of Entomology, Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, The University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan

    Maid Zaman

  7. Department of Biosciences, University of Wah, Wah, Punjab, Pakistan

    Bushra Gul

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  1. Anas Iqbal
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  8. Izhar Ali
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  9. Bushra Gul
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  10. Xiangru Tang
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  11. Ligeng Jiang
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Correspondence to Maid Zaman , Xiangru Tang or Ligeng Jiang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Shah Fahad

  2. Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Punjab, Pakistan

    Subhan Danish

  3. Department of Geology and Pedology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic

    Rahul Datta

  4. College of Life Science, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong, China

    Shah Saud

  5. Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France

    Eric Lichtfouse

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Iqbal, A. et al. (2023). Biofertilizers to Improve Soil Health and Crop Yields. In: Fahad, S., Danish, S., Datta, R., Saud, S., Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 61. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol 61. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26983-7_11

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