How do microbes play important role in soil health and crop production and role do microbial organisms play in maintaining the soil?
Soil microorganisms are responsible for most of the nutrient release from organic matter. When microorganisms decompose organic matter, they use the carbon and nutrients in the organic matter for their own growth. They release excess nutrients into the soil where they can be taken up by plants. Due to their close proximity to plant roots, soil microbes significantly affect soil and crop health. Some of the activities they perform include nitrogen-fixation, phosphorus solubilization, suppression of pests and pathogens, improvement of plant stress, and decomposition that leads to soil aggregation. These microbes regulate nutrient cycling, regulation of dynamic of soil organic matter, and enhance efficiency of nutrient acquisition. The symbionts of microbes enhance the efficiency of nutrient acquisition of nutrient and water by plants.
Microorganisms are essential to soil formation and soil ecology because they control the flux of nutrients to plants promote nitrogen fixation, and promote soil detoxification of inorganic and naturally occurring organic pollutants. Due to their close proximity to plant roots, soil microbes significantly affect soil and crop health. Some of the activities they perform include nitrogen-fixation, phosphorus solubilization, suppression of pests and pathogens, improvement of plant stress, and decomposition that leads to soil aggregation. Soil microorganisms are responsible for most of the nutrient release from organic matter. When microorganisms decompose organic matter, they use the carbon and nutrients in the organic matter for their own growth. They release excess nutrients into the soil where they can be taken up by plants. Microbes help the break down organic matter from dead plants and animals and incorporate it into the soil, which increases the soil's organic content, improves soil structure, and helps plants thrive. Microbes increase soil fertility. They're used as a biofertilizer in agriculture. Microbes decompose dead and decaying organic matter and help with the recycling of nutrients. Microbes make nutrients available to plants from the rhizosphere and ultimately help in their mobilization in the plant system. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the key elements involved in plant growth and development. Most numerous of the soil microbes are bacteria, then the actinomycetes, fungi, algae, protozoa and viruses. Nematodes also play a role. Each group of soil microbes has different characteristics that define the organisms and different functions in the soil it lives in. Beneficial soil microbes form symbiotic relationships with the plant. In fact, the plant will exert as much as 30% of its energy to the root zone to make food for microbes. In return those microbes not only protect the plant from stress, but also feed the plant by converting and holding nutrients in the soil.They increase soil fertility by incorporating air, minerals and nitrogenous compounds. They contribute in increasing plant growth by providing essential elements, minerals that plants cannot utilize by their Owen. Microorganisms decompose organic matter to simpler form that can be easily uptake by plants.
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