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Crop microbiome and sustainable agriculture

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 18, pages 601–602 (2020)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 12 November 2020

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A global assessment of the structure and function of the crop microbiome is urgently needed for the development of effective and rationally designed microbiome technologies for sustainable agriculture. Such an effort will provide new knowledge on the key ecological and evolutionary interactions between plant species and their microbiomes that can be harnessed for increasing agriculture productivity.

The global demand for food is expected to increase by 70% by 2050 to feed the increasing human population1. However, current agricultural practices are unlikely to meet this requirement in the face of continued land degradation, reductions in soil fertility, changing climate and increasing extreme weather events. In addition, there are growing economic (for example, high cost of production or low margin of profitability), social (for example, consumers desire for chemical-free food), environmental (for example, minimizing water and air pollution) and policy (for example, the green deal of the European Union (EU)) demands for innovative approaches that can simultaneously promote crop productivity and environmental sustainability2. Consequently, multiple intergovernmental organizations (for example, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)) and academic societies (National Academy of Science) have recommended the development of innovative natural products that complement conventional farming practises to ensure the sustainable provision for food and fibre1,3.

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  • 12 November 2020

    An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Brajesh K. Singh, Eleonora Egidi & Catriona A. Macdonald

  2. Global Centre for Land−based Innovation, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Brajesh K. Singh & Eleonora Egidi

  3. Microbiome Network and Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Pankaj Trivedi

  4. Departamentode Sistemas Físicos, Químicosy Naturales, Universidad Pablode Olavide, Sevilla, Spain

    Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo

Authors
  1. Brajesh K. Singh
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  2. Pankaj Trivedi
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  3. Eleonora Egidi
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  4. Catriona A. Macdonald
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  5. Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brajesh K. Singh.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Related links

FAO: http://www.fao.org/home

Global Initiative on Crop Microbiome and Sustainable Agriculture: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/call-for-collaborators-on-crop-microbiomes

International Bioeconomy Forum: https://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/index.cfm?pg=policy&lib=ibf

National Academy of Science: http://www.nasonline.org/

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Singh, B.K., Trivedi, P., Egidi, E. et al. Crop microbiome and sustainable agriculture. Nat Rev Microbiol 18, 601–602 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-020-00446-y

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