Soil microbial resources: Unlocking sustainable strategies for crop productivity and soil health

Using efficient rhizospheric microbes as bio-inoculants is a key factor in promoting agricultural sustainability, as these microbes have been shown to enhance plant growth promotion and crop productivity. Soil microbial communities offer numerous benefits to crops, including improved nutrient uptake efficiency, phytohormone production, improved soil structure, nutrient balance, enhanced plant and soil health, protection against soil borne phyto-pathogens and increased plant resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses. These characteristics of rhizospheric microbes have attracted researcher's attention, as using these microbes individually or in consortia has enhanced soil fertility as well as soil heatlh in a eco-friendly manner. Further, the utilization of multi-omics techniques for exploring the hidden potential of beneficial plant growth promoting microbes is one of the novel approaches that can result in the generation of new biological formulations under changing climatic conditions. This review is therefore focused on the diversity of microbes, their contributions for plant growth promotion and yield with advances in techniques for screening and development of efficient bio-inoculant with a special emphasis on promoting sustainable agriculture practices.