CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS 1 Conclusions

The extensive study of published reports and references, as well as the analysis of the questionnaires, has demonstrated that there is a broad use of microorganisms in agroindustrial processes.

Agricultural production needs to increase by 60% over the next 40 years in order to meet the rising demand for food. Additional increase in production will also be necessary to provide feedstock for expanding biofuel production. Increasing agricultural productivity will be central to containing food prices in a context of rising resource constraints. At the same time, there is a growing need to improve the sustainable use of available land, water, marine ecosystems, fish stocks, forests, and biodiversity. Around 25% of all agricultural land is highly degraded, while critical water scarcity in agriculture is a fact for many countries. Moreover, several fish stocks are over-exploited or at risk.

There is a growing consensus that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and climatic patterns are changing in many parts of the world. Global agricultural output grew by 2.6% p.a. over the last decade, led by growth in Brazil, China, India and the Russian Federation. In the late 1960s an agricultural explosion took place, due to the widespread use of inexpensive chemical fertilizer and market reforms. Especially the yields of rice and corn increased rapidly. At present, production of these grains faces troubles, because of land shortages and soaring prices for fertilizer. The second issue constitutes a major factor contributing to a rise in food prices and thereby threatening to push millions of poor people into malnutrition. For that reason some farmers tried to replenish nutrients in the soil and revert to older methods of fertilization by spreading manure on fields. According to Heffer and Prud’homme (2012) agricultural production will grow steadily in order to supply the food, feed, fibre and bioenergy markets. The cropped area would continue to expand in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South-east Asia. Developing countries are projected to increase their share of global crop and livestock production.

Many studies in greenhouses and fields have assessed the effect of rhizobacteria and endophytic species on plant growth, grain yield of annual crops, and the cultivars of different crops to save fertilizers, or to diminish pollution caused by agrochemicals, or, both.

Microbial inoculants have long been incorporated into field practices worldwide, with satisfactory results, especially for rhizobia. Compared with chemical applications in agriculture, their present impact on the agromarket is smaller than expected. However, the agrochemical industry is more sympathetic now to the concept of bacterial inoculants than it has been previously. There is a genuine interest in developing bacterial products that are reliable and that can act as complements to

chemicals already on the market. Research and limited field trials of PGPB over the last two decades have opened up new horizons for the inoculation industry.

PGPR have gained worldwide importance and acceptance for agricultural benefits. These microorganisms are the potential tools for sustainable agriculture and the trend for the future. Scientific researches involve multidisciplinary approaches to understand adaptation of PGPR to the rhizosphere, mechanisms of root colonization, effects on plant physiology and growth, biofertilization, induced systemic resistance, biological control of plant pathogens, production of determinants etc. Biodiversity of PGPR and mechanisms of action for the different groups: diazotrophs, bacilli, pseudomonads, and rhizobia, are shown. Effects of physical, chemical and biological factors on root colonization and the proteomics perspective on biocontrol and plant defence mechanism is discussed. Visualization of interactions of pathogens and biocontrol agents on plant roots using autofluorescent protein markers has provided more understanding of biocontrol process. Commercial formulations and field applications of PGPR are detailed in this report.

Most inoculants today are used for legumes and to a lesser extent for cereals. The market dictates that the inoculants must be as cheap as possible. The cost of developing new inoculant materials quickly moves the price out of a practical range for agriculture, especially in developing countries. However, there are several high-value specialty markets such as flowers, fresh organic fruits and vegetables, where chemicals are undesirable or become difficult to use because of restrictions. Greenhouse crops are also primary targets for commercial inoculants. Since they are often grown in disinfected soils or even without soil but with high input costs, the additional inoculation costs will not cause an unacceptable economic burden to the grower. At the same time, this type of cultivation avoids all the difficulties originating from the interaction of the inoculants with the soil.

V.2. Future prospects

One concern still remains, even with the latest approaches mentioned before. PGPB may function through multiple mechanisms, but the transfer of a single mechanism may not provide significant benefits. With engineered crops, most of the technical difficulties inherent to bacterial inoculants are removed because the grower simply purchases the "modified" seeds, which certainly will be more expensive. During the last century, peat formulations have been developed into effective and accepted carriers, but their development has almost reached its limits. Synthetic carriers, which have yet to be transferred from experimental concepts into commercial inoculants, offer greater potential and flexibility for the inoculant industry. Due to the shortage of information about new developments from inoculant companies, it is premature to view these carriers as potentially universal, even though they may overcome many of the deficiencies of peat-based inoculants. While it is true that in contemporary agricultural practices synthetic inoculants are frequently too expensive for the target crop, and therefore companies are reluctant to develop them, the bioremedation industry might support development of such advanced inoculants. Many types of encapsulated forms of microorganisms have been developed for use in bioremedation. Moreover, numerous bioremedation projects are supported by governments in developing countries or by large contaminating industries in developed countries which are forced to "clean up", both of which are more resourceful than an individual farmer. More efficient inoculants will undoubtedly be used for bioremedation processes, especially in emergencies, regardless of their higher costs. This use may provide agriculture with an opportunity for the development of novel inoculant materials and formulations. A wider use in non- agricultural applications may help these materials become cost competitive for agriculture.

When developing PGPR biofertilizers, the strain(s), the inoculum production and, in general, the development of appropriate formulations as well as strategies of field experimentations are

fundamental conditions for a successful application of PGPR species. However, the extensive commercialisation of PGPR biofertilizers has been limited worldwide.

In most countries there are ongoing projects for the conservation of microbial diversity. Such projects usually relate to the establishment of culture collections of agricultural and industrial microorganisms, and to the evaluation and mass multiplication of potential biological control agents. Most of the scientists consider the maintenance of microbial culture collections as crucial to the safeguarding of microbial diversity. Traditional management practices for safeguarding microbial diversity include:

1. Organic farming;

2. Integrated Pest Management practices;

3. Rice intensification systems, which is a method of rice cultivation using less water and other inputs;

4. Use of organic materials; and 5. Composting.

The following knowledge gaps regarding technologies and policies which are needed to improve the use of microorganisms have been identified:

 Quality control of microbial products;

 Proper regulatory mechanisms;

 Separate registration policies for microorganisms based products;

 Appropriate extension and demonstration in the farmer’s fields;

 Public-private partnerships;

 Gap between the availability of beneficial strains and their use, due to insufficient technology for their distribution to field crops;

 Technologies to select and preserve best microorganisms in culture collection facilities centers for later industrial use .

Some scientists seem to be doubtful about the possible threats of imported microbial products (biopesticides) to human and or animal health. Thus any release of such products should be thoroughly evaluated and monitored. It should also be pointed out that several bioproducts, especially in Southeast Asia, are fake, causing pathogenic contamination of plants, animals and/or humans. Moreover, many microbial spores could be potential allergens. Other threats from the use of microorganisms in agroindustrial processes, could be the lack of availability of quality products, accidental contaminants during mass multiplication of microbes, the lack of large-scale production technologies to meet the demand and the timely supply of quality products to users. Many bacteria, which are potentially pathogenic to humans, are not recognised by registration offices as threats (risks). Such bacteria may be accepted as biofertilizers, while being harmful both to humans who work in the field and to the consumers of the produces such as fruit and vegetables.

Interesting aspects have been outlined on the potential impacts of climate change on microbial diversity. It is believed that climate changes will influence microbial diversity and modulate microbial community composition. Also, certain sub-sets of microbes could develop larger diversity as noticed in Trichoderma and Beauveria bassiana that are used as biocontrol against coffee root diseases and coffee berry borer pest. Microorganisms are expected to acquire various different physiological properties because of climate change.

Composting from all kinds of farm wastes (plant or animal organic material) seems to be widespread. Oyster mushroom cultures are used to hasten the composting. Leaf litter in plantations is used extensively in vermicomposting. Farmyard manure production is a regular practice especially in India. Composts often are applied in soil to improve soil fertility or are used for the preparation of substrates. The prices of compost products is not encouraging and governments have to often intervene through subsidies.

The biofuels market is a rising and dynamic market that is expected to further increase over the coming decades. Biofuels involves the greater use of potentially lower cost biomass as feedstock. For producing biofuels with high efficiency, it is essential to develop high performing microbes. The adoption of new technologies has to be enhanced in order to improve the quality and image of these products.

Biofertilizer manufacturers need to address segments where adoption can be hastened, such as cash crops, fruits and vegetables and export oriented crops. The communication should focus on commercial advantages of adopting this technology (such as improvement in quality of produce leading to better prices, lesser residues leading to greater acceptance in export markets), rather than an environmental one (soil fertility and preserving the biosphere). Biofertilizers, as a product category, should create an identity that is distinct from organic fertilizers. Biofertilizer manufacturers need to make the product simpler to use so as to increase its application. Currently, small and medium enterprises are producing biofertilizers but , they do not have adequate resources for extension activities. Therefore, there is a case for large-scale enterprises to enter into the manufacturing of biofertilizers, which would lead to economies of scale and make resources available for extension activities. This could solve the problem of availability, awareness and quality. From a realistic perspective, one has to accept that, in the foreseeable future, chemicals will continue to dominate the market. Only a gradual and modest increase in the use of bacterial inoculants is to be expected. Agriculture in developed countries is definitely the major promoter of microbial inoculants that are "environmentally friendly". Nevertheless, special attention should be paid to the needs and constraints of developing countries that need easy-to-use and inexpensive formulations. For the short- and medium-term future, more research should focus on the development of better and more economical feasible, synthetic inoculant carriers, while sustaining peat-based inoculant production for agriculture. The other options should be considered as long-term goals.

Organic agriculture is a fast growing sector of agriculture within the scope of sustainable practices. Therefore, the demand forinputs for organic agriculture (biofertilizers and bioinoculants) is expected to rise. The implementation of sustainable practices in agriculture requires more labour, time, knowledge, and the encouragement from the governments through appropriate policies and advice from experts. Initially, the farmers could be doubtful, because of the possibly reduced yields and profits.

Companies, the competent Ministries, Universities and Institutes should continue to invest in research for the innovation, development and application of new biofertilizers/biopesticides. The farmers need to be educated and trained for the application of microbial products, such as biofertilizers and biopesticides, and should also be informed on their possible limiting factors. While commercialisation is important, traditional practices are key to sustainable agriculture and their role in safeguarding soil health, soil microbial diversity, and effective pests control needs to be acknowledged.

The study also found that farmers seek consultation on biofertilizers/biopesticides in both the public and the private sector. Equally, farmers and public agencies are responsible for the use of biofertilizers/biopesticides. 55.5% of the experts claim that there is no need for farmers’ training or

education, as the products are easy to apply and can be implemented by a wide variety of equipment, while 44.5% believe farmers’ training and education to be desirable. They claim that farmers have to be educated for using biofertilizers to convince them about the results and cost effectiveness when compared to the use of chemical fertilizers.