Table Of ContentDhananjaya Pratap Singh
Harikesh Bahadur Singh
Ratna Prabha Editors
Microbial Inoculants
in Sustainable
Agricultural
Productivity
Vol. 2: Functional Applications
Microbial Inoculants in Sustainable
Agricultural Productivity
Dhananjaya Pratap Singh
Harikesh Bahadur Singh (cid:129) Ratna Prabha
Editors
Microbial Inoculants
in Sustainable
Agricultural Productivity
Vol. 2: Functional Applications
Editors
Dhananjaya Pratap Singh Harikesh Bahadur Singh
ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally Department of Mycology and Plant
Important Microorganisms Pathology, Institute of Agricultural
Maunath Bhanjan , UP , India Sciences
Banaras Hindu University
Ratna Prabha Varanasi , UP , India
ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally
Important Microorganisms
Maunath Bhanjan , UP , India
ISBN 978-81-322-2642-0 ISBN 978-81-322-2644-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2644-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015960842
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Foreword
Application of microbial inoculants has been realized as an alternative option
due to their promising role in substantially reducing excessive use of chemi-
cal fertilizers, nutrients and pesticides. Their promising functions in plant
growth promotion, protection against diseases and pests and soil fertility can
be witnessed as biofertilizers (nitrogen-fi xers, phosphate-solubilizers, sidero-
phore producers etc.) that improve availability of minerals for plants and
enhance uptake of nutrients (R hizobia , Azotobacter, etc.) as phytostimulators
to produce phytohormones and directly promote plant growth ( Azospirilium,
cyanobacterial strains etc.) and as biocontrol agents ( Trichoderma,
Pseudomonas and B acillus, etc.) that protect plants against phytopathogenic
organisms and enhance tolerance against abiotic stresses. There exist diverse
group of microbes (bacteria and cyanobacteria, actinomycetes, methylo-
trophs, fungus, mycorrhizal fungi and endophytes) that have been developed
as microbial inoculants with diverse functions at different levels and many
have touched commercial production for applications at the fi eld level to ben-
efi t farmers. Recently, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) have
gained attention for their indispensible role in sustainable agriculture.
Moreover, selection of effi cient strains with well defi ned mechanisms helped
development of biofertilizer/biopesticide inoculants for achieving consistent
and reproducible results under fi eld conditions. PGPR- based biofertilizers
can be used as effective alternatives to chemical fertilizers to reduce chemical
use in the fi elds by many folds. Similarly, biocontrol agents that still represent
a little portion of the total chemical pesticides use for controlling phytopatho-
gens are again gaining prominent contribution as eco-friendly disease man-
agement alternatives with different safer mode of action than the chemical
pesticides. Looking into the vast potential applicability of microbial inocu-
lants, recent research is focused on identifying microbes or their consortia for
their physiological and biochemical traits that make them prominent
v
vi Foreword
b iofertilizers or biocontrol agents, use of biorational screening processes to
identify biocontrol/biofertilization processes, testing under semi-commercial
and commercial production conditions, emphasis on consortium develop-
ment of potential strains, fi nding out viable and long- lasting delivery modes.
Newly emerging omic’s based technologies are further adding towards a bet-
ter understanding of the microbial functions at molecular level, molecular
plant-microbe interactions and less-explored delivery mechanisms.
The editors of this volume, ‘M icrobial Inoculants in Sustainable
Agricultural Productivity Vol. II – Functional Applications’ deserve apprecia-
tion for their efforts to compile diverse aspects of microbial functions and
linking them with their potential applications for the benefi t of crop produc-
tion and soil health.
New Delhi (S. Ayyappan)
27th July 2015
Pref ace
O ver the past three decades, microbial biotechnology has benefi ted greatly
from the extraordinary advances in molecular biology and nanotechnology.
This has helped not only in the identifi cation of microbial communities but
their functional and metabolic diversity too and has resulted in the identifi ca-
tion of potential microbial gene pool, proteins, or metabolites. There have
been tremendous research advances in the study of plant-microbe (benefi cial)
and plant-pathogen interactions, pathogen recognition, induced systemic
resistance and innate immunity mechanisms in plants, root rhizosphere biol-
ogy, mechanisms of plant growth promotion and antagonism within micro-
bial communities, and impact assessment of inoculated microbes on soil,
plant, and other benefi cial microorganisms to establish proof of concept
behind microbial inoculation in soils or plants. Dynamic interactions between
root exudates, microbial activity, genetic exchange, nutrient transformation,
and gradient diffusion are the most likely factors shaping the belowground
activities where microbial inoculants need to survive to produce benefi cial
impacts. Consequently, there remained an increasing demand to understand
belowground functioning to effectively manage ecosystem and harness
potential benefi ts. Manipulation of the rhizosphere with microbial inocula-
tion is now being considered as a key mechanism for solving critical issues
for agricultural sustainability, food quality management, mitigation of cli-
mate change, and conservation of biodiversity. Plants interact with groups of
soil microbial communities at different trophic levels for alleviation of biotic
and abiotic stresses which involve positive and negative feedbacks between
soil microbes, plants, and their chemical environment. These issues have
been worked out critically in different plant-microbe systems and led to a
broad, yet clearer, understanding of the mechanisms of inoculation of plants
with microbes. With this background, the demand for totally novel microbial
products creates pressure on microbial biotechnologists to search for more
potent and ecologically robust organisms and their specifi c interactive targets
within the plants for developing potential microbial inoculants. Mass-scale
inoculation comprises the supply of high-density viable and effi cient micro-
bial formulations in the fi eld for a rapid colonization of the host rhizosphere.
Prior to registration and commercialization of microbial inoculants, there
remain a number of steps to consider. From laboratory to the industrial scale-
up, this requires process scaling and mass production of the defi ned organism
vii
viii Preface
under commercial fermentation conditions while maintaining quality,
stability, and effi cacy of the product.
T he book M icrobial Inoculants in Sustainable Agricultural Productivity
Vol. II Functional Applications addresses the fi eld usage of microbial inocu-
lants (biofertilizers, biostimulants, biopesticides) that need several stages to
undergo. Authors contributing to this volume have presented detailed account
of mass production of microbial inoculants that involves scaling-up of pro-
duction process of an effi cient microbe from laboratory to industrial level,
development of effi cient production technology, quality control, commercial
aspects, intellectual property rights involved, cross-boundary registration
methods, biosafety and biosecurity concerns, and their legal sanctity. It also
discusses formulation development that needs to consider factors such as
base material, shelf life, compatibility with existing agricultural practices and
materials (chemicals, other organisms), cost, and ease of applications.
Biosafety and biosecurity considerations were also presented at length as per
territorial guidelines to address such issues as nontarget effects on microbes
and other organisms, toxigenicity, allergenicity and pathogenicity, persis-
tence in the environment and potential for horizontal gene transfer, etc.
Capitalization costs, techno-commercial issues, and potential markets were
considered as key issues for making decisions to commercialize microbial
inoculants. We are thankful to all the contributing authors for putting their
efforts to complete this volume.
Maunath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh , India Dhananjaya Pratap Singh
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Harikesh Bahadur Singh
Maunath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh, India Ratna Prabha
Contents
1 Soil Microbes: The Invisible Managers of Soil Fertility ............ 1
Arumugam Sathya , Rajendran Vijayabharathi ,
and Subramaniam Gopalakrishnan
2 Effi cacy of Biofertilizers: Challenges to Improve
Crop Production ............................................................................ 17
E. Malusà , F. Pinzari , and L. Canfora
3 Revisiting Action of Bioinoculants: Their Impact
on Rhizospheric Microbial Community Function ..................... 41
Shilpi Sharma , Richa Sharma , Rashi Gupta ,
and Virendra Swarup Bisaria
4 Phenazine-Producing P seudomonas spp.
as Biocontrol Agents of Plant Pathogens..................................... 53
Tanya Arseneault and Martin Filion
5 Role of Nonpathogenic Fungi in Inducing Systemic
Resistance in Crop Plants Against Phytopathogens ................... 69
Shachi Singh
6 Stress Management Practices in Plants by Microbes ................ 85
Kanak Sirari , Lokender Kashyap , and C. M. Mehta
7 Contribution of Microbial Inoculants to Soil
Carbon Sequestration and Sustainable Agriculture .................. 101
Kanchan Vishwakarma , Shivesh Sharma , Nitin Kumar ,
Neha Upadhyay , Shikha Devi , and Ashish Tiwari
8 Remediation of Heavy Metal- Contaminated
Agricultural Soils Using Microbes .............................................. 115
Braj Raj Singh , Akanksha Singh , Sandhya Mishra ,
Alim H. Naqvi , and Harikesh Bahadur Singh
9 Role of Microbial Inoculants in Nutrient Use Effi ciency........... 133
Manish Kumar , Dhananjaya Pratap Singh , Ratna Prabha ,
Ashutosh Kumar Rai , and Lalan Sharma
ix
