Promising Microorganisms Usage Focused to Crop Improvement for Sustainable Agricultural Production

Dear Colleagues,

The practice of agriculture has always been a source of food production. The increase in the global population requires improvements in agriculture, such as increasing crop quality and yield. Plant growth results from the interaction between roots and their environment, which is the soil or planting medium that provides structural support, as well as water and nutrients to the plant. Therefore, good soil management is necessary to prevent problems that will directly affect plant health. The farmers have implemented some practices to produce more food, on larger plots at lower prices. Although these developments have had many positive effects and reduced many risks in farming, they also have significant negative impacts, such as: topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, and new threats to human health and food safety, among others. Integrated crop management is a pragmatic approach to crop production, which includes integrated pest management focusing on crop protection.

Currently, there is an extended idea that many microorganisms, such as fungi or bacteria, are useful in agriculture since they are attractive eco-friendly alternatives to mineral fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Beneficial microorganisms can improve agricultural production worldwide. There are many studies about the advantages and benefits of microbial products in agriculture; however, it is necessary to pay attention to the challenges that face microbial biofertilizers and biopesticides so that we can increase their use. There have been some limitations with their use which leads to the next question: can synthetic pesticides and fertilizers be totally substituted by beneficial microorganisms? This question is in the air and the research in the next few years will be the key to answering it.

With this Special Issue we try to compile the most recent knowledge on the use of beneficial microorganisms to improve agricultural production, putting emphasis not only on their application as biofertilizers, biofungicides, or biopesticides, but also in their help to promote plant growth through hormones or compounds. Some soil components can be up-taken by the plants in a better way with the presence of beneficial microorganisms. This point is also highlighted in this Special Issue. In addition to these traditional practices, scientists are also investigating plant breeding and engineering strategies which could potentially target a broad spectrum of pathogens or generate new disease-resistant crops.

We, therefore, invite researchers to submit papers, original research, reviews, mini-reviews, and method papers on the following topics (but not limited to):

• Beneficial microorganisms;
• Biological control of plant pathogens;
• Biofungicides;
• Plant growth promotion;
• Soil health;
• Sustainable agriculture;
• Biopesticides;
• Plant microbe interactions;
• Genetic engineering practices in agriculture.

Prof. Dr. Estibaliz Sansinenea
Dr. Chetan Keswani
Guest Editors

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• plant growth promoting bacteria
• microbes
• phytopathogens
• plant disease management
• crop protection
• biocontrol agents
• biofungicides