Eco-Friendly Agriculture: The Role of Diazotrophs in Food Security

The indiscriminate application of synthetic nitrogen (N2) fertilizers, ineffective water management, and soil degradation pose threats to sustainable agriculture and food security. A sustainable substitute for artificial N2 input in hydroponic systems is biological nitrogen fixation, which is mediated by diazotrophs and converts atmospheric N2 to plant-available ammonium. This chapter explores the functional variety of diazotrophs, root–microbe interactions, and environmental restrictions in order to address the integration of BNF into the microbiome of crops. It also highlights new bioformulation techniques to improve microbial compatibility with nutrient regimes, strain improvement, microbial consortia development, nitrogenase protection, and genome editing tools, as well as omics-based tools for the real-time evaluation of N2 fixation and microbial functionality. Important issues are covered, including the lack of defined biostimulant methods, nitrate-induced suppression of nitrogenase activity, and microbial leaching. Following diazotroph treatments, case studies on staple crops have shown increased production productivity and nutrient use efficiency. Future directions for synthetic biology, regulations, and omics-based methods for the real-time evaluation of N2 fixation and microbial functioning are discussed in the chapter’s conclusion.