Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria and Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria: Sustainability of Non-legume Crops

Abstract

Plant growth-promoting bacteriaPlant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPBsPGPBs) and nitrogen-fixing bacterianitrogen fixing bacteria (NFBs) are biologically increasing nitrogen (N) efficiencynitrogen (N) efficiency with significant impacts on nutrients transformationnutrients transformation, soil organic matter mineralizationmineralization, carbon dynamics for sustainable growth and productivity of non-legumenon-legume crops. Plant growth-promoting bacteriaPlant growth promoting bacteria may have direct or indirect impact on soil health, fertility and nutrients cycle, leading to better crop diversitycrop diversity, growth and productivity. Beneficial aspects of microbes were being ignored due to chemical fertilizerschemical fertilizers and leguminous symbiotic associations in recent decades. Moreover, there is research gap with use of PGPBs and NFBs to highlight their impacts as growth promoting and N-fixing bacteriaN fixing bacteria on non-legume production. In this context, our chapter focused on inoculation/ co-inoculation of species or strains of microbes as bio-fertilizer, bio-enhancer and bio-control agents for improving growth, metabolism and production of non-legumes in an economical and ecofriendly way. These beneficial microbes are natural growth stimulators for better production of non-legume crops like cereals, oil seed plants, vegetables, fruits, forages and other important crops. They provide outstanding opportunities and utilize a wide range of processes like solubilizationsolubilization, mineralization of nutrients and production of phytohormonesphyto-hormones while discouraging synthetic and chemical fertilizers as well as biotic resilience. This review tried to understand the reported mechanisms of PGPBs and NFBs that contributed to the above and below soil biome of non-legumes for better and sustainable crop plant-soil interactions and productivity.