Role of Microbial Inoculants in Nutrient Use Efficiency

Since microbial inoculants have the ability to promote plant growth, nutrient enrichment, uptake, and support plant health, they are designated as a promising part of integrated solutions to agro-environmental problems. Inoculations with microbial consortia or plant-growth-promoting bacteria have been shown to enhance nutrient use efficiency, that is, mainly phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon. It is generally believed that the huge diversity of the microbial communities associated with the rhizoplane in the rhizosphere and phylloplane helps plants to acquire minerals, organic substances, and many other small-molecule metabolites including amino acids, phytohormones, etc., to improve plant productivity. The interaction between microbes and plants has been shown to improve plant growth and impart biological control against biotic and abiotic stresses and work silently to improve the biogeochemical cycle in the natural ecosystem. Enhanced nutrient use efficiency benefits the plant by induction in seed germination, plant yield, and more uptake of nutrients along with enhancement in plant height and effective biocontrol. In this chapter, the effect of microbes and microbial inoculants in the enhancement of nutrient use efficiency is elaborated.