Microbe-Assisted Disease Control and Growth Enhancement in Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale ROSC.)

Abstract

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) and ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) are economically important medicinal and spice crops valued for their diverse pharmacological properties and extensive applications in traditional and modern healthcare. However, their productivity is constrained by soil-borne diseases, abiotic stresses, and declining soil health associated with intensive agrochemical use. Microbial biopriming, involving the pre-treatment of planting materials with beneficial microorganisms such as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), Trichoderma, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and other beneficial microbes, has emerged as an eco-friendly strategy to improve crop establishment, productivity, and resilience. This review comprehensively summarizes recent advances in rhizosphere microbial diversity and microbe-mediated biopriming in turmeric and ginger, highlighting mechanisms underlying plant growth promotion, nutrient acquisition, phytohormone production, induced systemic resistance, disease suppression, and abiotic stress mitigation. Recent developments in genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and other multi-omics approaches are also discussed, emphasizing their potential to elucidate plant–microbe interactions and facilitate the identification of elite microbial inoculants. Evidence from recent studies demonstrates that microbial inoculation enhances germination, rhizome yield, phytochemical quality, nutrient-use efficiency, and resistance to major diseases, while contributing to improved tolerance against salinity, drought, nutrient deficiency, and other environmental stresses. The review further identifies key research gaps, including the need for long-term field validation, crop-specific microbial consortia, and precision biopriming strategies. Overall, microbial biopriming represents a sustainable, cost-effective approach for improving the productivity, quality, and climate resilience of turmeric and ginger while reducing dependence on chemical inputs.