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Biofertilizers: a potential approach for sustainable agriculture development

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Abstract

The worldwide increase in human population raises a big threat to the food security of each people as the land for agriculture is limited and even getting reduced with time. Therefore, it is essential that agricultural productivity should be enhanced significantly within the next few decades to meet the large demand of food by emerging population. Not to mention, too much dependence on chemical fertilizers for more crop productions inevitably damages both environmental ecology and human health with great severity. Exploitation of microbes as biofertilizers is considered to some extent an alternative to chemical fertilizers in agricultural sector due to their extensive potentiality in enhancing crop production and food safety. It has been observed that some microorganisms including plant growth promoting bacteria, fungi, Cyanobacteria, etc. have showed biofertilizer-like activities in the agricultural sector. Extensive works on biofertilizers have revealed their capability of providing required nutrients to the crop in sufficient amounts that resulted in the enhancement of crop yield. The present review elucidates various mechanisms that have been exerted by biofertilizers in order to promote plant growth and also provides protection against different plant pathogens. The aim of this review is to discuss the important roles and applications of biofertilizers in different sectors including agriculture, bioremediation, and ecology.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Priya Gupta for her valuable contributions for the improvement of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics, Tripura University (A Central University), Suryamaninagar, Agartala, Tripura, 799022, India

    Trishna Mahanty & Surajit Bhattacharjee

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, 560 052, India

    Bannhi Das

  3. Department of Microbiology, Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, Assam, 781017, India

    Madhurankhi Goswami, Purnita Bhattacharyya & Prosun Tribedi

  4. Department of Biochemistry, Bose Institute Centenary Campus, Kolkata, 700054, India

    Abhrajyoti Ghosh

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  1. Trishna Mahanty
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Mahanty, T., Bhattacharjee, S., Goswami, M. et al. Biofertilizers: a potential approach for sustainable agriculture development. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 3315–3335 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-8104-0

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