The Soil Microbiome: Diversity, Genomics and Potential Applications in Climate Smart Agriculture

Dear Colleagues,

It is undeniable that, as of the onset of the green revolution, several countries worldwide maintained improved food production for decades through intensive agricultural practices. However, such practices, coupled with the changing global climate, have caused food security to become more and more challenging as time goes by. Intensive arable cultivation of crops employs excessive use of external chemical inputs that lead to soil pollution by reducing exchangeable bases and hence soil pH, which limits nutrient availability to crop plants. On the other hand, the global climate change, with its constant rise in CO₂ concentration and temperature, is posing a huge threat to agriculture and in general to ecosystem functioning. As the vital question amid the prevailing impacts of intensive agriculture and the changing climate is how we can manage our land and ensure food security, a trending theme in the quest for a sustainable solution is climate smart agriculture. This entails developing agricultural strategies to ensure sustainable food security under climate change.

The soil microbiome, a vital, yet often overlooked component of the planet’s health, is composed of a diverse community of microorganisms living in the soil. Due to the complexity and versatility of their enzymatic, genetic and metabolic functions, they interact with each other, the soil environment and plants. In doing so, they play crucial roles in nutrient cycling, plant health, soil structure and fertility, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas regulation and ecosystem resilience. However, the soil microbiome is largely influenced by both intensive agricultural practices and the changing soil climate. Thus, to maintain the sustainability of agricultural productivity as well as ecosystem functioning that lead to improved human health and food security, it is vital to have a healthy microbiome. Recently, the application of various state-of-the-art DNA sequencing technologies such as next-generation sequencing has enabled scientists to better understand the soil microbes. Knowing the diversity and genomics of a myriad of soil microbiomes under different environmental and ecological factors generates ample information on the impacts of different soil management practices as well as that of climate change. Such an understanding of the soil microbes would enable the development of more effective soil management strategies that enhance ecosystem functions, thereby improving agricultural productivity and mitigating climate change impacts.

In this Special Issue, we accept manuscripts that deal with the taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversities of soil microbiomes, including studies that address the various modes of actions of the soil microbiomes for use in sustainable agriculture and healthy ecosystems under the current threats of intensive arable cultivation and global climate change.

Dr. Ahmed Idris Hassen
Prof. Dr. Olubukola Oluranti Babalola
Dr. Timothy Sibanda
Guest Editors

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• soil microbiome
• diversity
• genomics
• climate smart agriculture