Soil microbial farming to increase plant productivity: reducing nutrient inputs to increase plant-microbe interactions and managing soil microbial diversity

We propose to investigate the tripartite, PGPM-plant-soil microbiome interaction in plant quality and productivity using state-of-the-art ‘omics’ and bioinformatics approaches to investigate facilitation (positive interactions) and competition (negative interactions) by both microbes and PGPM within the plant realized niche following gradients of both soil diversity and nutrient availability. This research proposal integrates approaches to obtain a fundamental understanding of these tripartite interactions in a smart microbiome engineered plant production system for sustainable high-quality crop production. This research will contribute to the development of innovative methods for agricultural and horticultural starting material production using PGPM for
sustainable crop production by combining techniques to reduce nutrient input and enhance the efficiency and long-lasting effects of PGPM.