Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria and Sustainable Agriculture

A healthy soil supports a dynamic, living system, offering ecosystem services such as sustaining water quality, enhancing plant productivity, controlling nutrient recycling, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Due to the importance of soil microbial diversity and activity, soil health is intimately related to sustainable agriculture. The capacity of a crop production system to consistently generate food without causing environmental damage is referred to as agricultural sustainability. Researchers now emphasize sustainable agriculture using plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) as an alternative to pesticides, given the concerns about pesticide drawbacks. The use of PGPR as a biofertilizer for the sustainability of agroecosystems has recently drawn increased attention in addressing the anticipated need to boost agricultural production to feed the world’s expanding population. It facilitates plant growth directly by either assisting in resource acquisition (nitrogen, phosphorus, and essential minerals) or modulating plant hormone levels, or indirectly by decreasing the inhibitory effects of various pathogens on plant growth and development in the forms of biocontrol agents. PGPR genera that are frequently accessible include bacterial strains like Agrobacterium, Arthrobacter, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Bacillus, Caulobacter, Chromobacterium, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, and Pseudomonas. The crucial PGPR species are discussed in this chapter, along with their mode of action, application, and role in improving sustainable agriculture.