Biofertilisers

Summary

In the last years, organic amendments, active natural metabolites or beneficial microbes are discussed as environmentally friendly strategies to reach the goal of a more sustainable crop production. The use of microbial-based inoculants and the exploitation of beneficial interactions with plants has gained increasing interest worldwide. Beneficial microbes can enhance plant growth by increasing their tolerance to adverse soil and environmental conditions or by improving the plants’ resource utilisation efficiency. However, developing specific microbial-based inoculants or so called biofertilisers with beneficial effects that are also suitable for agricultural applications under different environmental conditions is challenging. Currently, some commercially available biofertilisers are of low quality or are difficult to apply. This results in a loss of confidence from farmers. However, the quality improvement of microbial based formulations and the advancements in the understanding of biological mechanisms have continuously helped enhance the efficiency at field level. This fact sheet summarises the latest research findings.