Synergistic impact of nanomaterials and plant probiotics in agriculture: A tale of two-way strategy for long-term sustainability.

Modern agriculture is primarily focused on the massive production of cereals and other food-based crops in a sustainable manner in order to fulfill the food demands of an ever-increasing global population. However, intensive agricultural practices, rampant use of agrochemicals, and other environmental factors result in soil fertility degradation, environmental pollution, disruption of soil biodiversity, pest resistance, and a decline in crop yields. Thus, experts are shifting their focus to other eco-friendly and safer methods of fertilization in order to ensure agricultural sustainability.

Detection of endophytic association between Aeschynomene nodulating Bradyrhizobium sp. and traditional Desariya rice roots under rice-Aeschynomene ecosystem of chaur land, Bihar, India.

Engineering diazotrophic rice having either an integral component of diazotrophic microbes or placing microbial origin nif gene to the rice plant is the dream of biotechnologist. Rice-Aeschynomene ecosystem of pristine chaur land provides a suitable niche to search Rhizobium endophytes in rice. Accordingly, the work was initiated to search suitable endophytic Rhizobium strain for artificial symbiosis within the roots of Desariya rice and its source through morphological, biochemical and molecular approaches.

Prospecting catabolic diversity of microbial strains for developing microbial consortia and their synergistic effect on Lentil (Lens esculenta) growth, yield and iron biofortification.

Carbon profiling of heterotrophic microbial inoculants is worthwhile strategy for formulating consortium-based biofertilizers. Consortium-based biofertilizers are better than single strain-based biofertilizers for sustaining agricultural productivity and enhancing micronutrient concentration in grains. Currently, we investigated catabolic diversity among microbes using different carbon sources and certain enzyme activities.