How are bacteria useful in conservation agriculture and modern farming and why microorganisms are essential for agriculture under climate change scenario?
Within food plant cropping systems, microorganisms provide vital functions and ecosystem services, such as biological pest and disease control, promotion of plant growth and crop quality, and biodegradation of organic matter and pollutants. The beneficial effects of microorganisms can be achieved and/or enhanced by agricultural management measures that target the resident microbial biodiversity or by augmentation with domesticated and propagated microbial strains.
Bacteria increase the fertility of the soil and provide such nutrients to the soil which are useful for the plant growth. They also help in softening the food in the seed and this is the reason plants come out of the seeds. Some microorganisms such as bacteria are very good decomposers. They decompose dead organic matter. This substance when mixed with the soil will make it fertile. Some microorganisms like Rhizobium form symbiotic associations with plants and form root nodules. Microbes are involved in many processes, including the carbon and nitrogen cycles, and are responsible for both using and producing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Bacteria decompose dead organic matter and releases simple compounds in the soil, which can be taken up by plants. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen and increase the nitrogen content of the soil, which can be readily absorbed by plants. Bacteria decompose dead and decaying matter from plants and animals, convert them into simpler substances which are later used up by other plants and animals. Thus, they are used to breakdown harmful substances. The most significant effect of the microbes on earth is their ability to recycle the primary elements that make up all living systems, especially carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. Microbes are adept at utilizing various compounds and methods as energy sources. In fact, microbes are responsible for the majority of photosynthesis on Earth, a process that removes carbon from the atmosphere and generates oxygen as a byproduct. Microbes maintain soil fertility and soil tilth. They clean up all the dead organic material; without them we would be up to our ears in dead things, like our ancestors. They fix gaseous nitrogen into forms that can be used by plants to maintain the fertility of soils. They can be used to extract minerals from ores.
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