Microbiota and Biofertilizers: A Sustainable Continuum for Plant and Soil Health

The world population continues to increase at an alarming rate. To meet the increasing demand for food, intensive cultivation using more cropland areas and increased use of fertilizers had been practiced. According to the FAO, chemical fertilizers are the solitarily most important contributor to the rise in the world’s agricultural production. Fertilizers comprising of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are regarded as the drivers of modern agriculture. Their worldwide use had been increased since the inception of the so-called green revolution. Chemical fertilizers recently provided 192 million tons as input to the agricultural soils in which 109 million tons was nitrogen, 45 million tons was phosphorus (expressed as P2O5), and 38 million tons was potassium (expressed as K2O). Fertilizer use increased by about 30% per hectare from 2002 to 2017, which was about 95 tons per hectare. By nutrient, the increase was about 24% for nitrogen, 25% for P2O5, and 53% for K2O. Low fertilizer use efficiencies in most of the soils are another factor adding in more use of chemical fertilizers. Intensive land use with continuous and injudicious use of higher doses of inorganic fertilizers significantly influences soil health and crop growth. Soil health is collectively defined by physical (texture, bulk density, infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity, porosity, etc.), chemical (essential nutrients, cation exchange capacity, electrical conductivity, etc.), and biological (microbial community including bacteria, fungi, algae, archaea, protozoa, earthworm, etc.) S. Iqbal (*) · G. Murtaza Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan U. Riaz (*) Agriculture Department, Soil and Water Testing Laboratory for Research, Government of Punjab, Bahawalpur, Pakistan M. Jamil · M. Ahmed · A. Hussain Department of Soil Science, Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan Z. Abbas Assistant Soil Fertility Officer, Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab, Bahawalpur, Pakistan