Rhizosphere Microorganisms for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Crop Production

Climate change is a major threat to crop production's sustainability in present-day agriculture. Consequently, the need for improved farming techniques and environment-responsive and climate-resilient technologies is realized as one of the top priorities. Recently, research efforts have been on the rise to develop sustainable crop production strategies by exploring the hidden potential of soil-root-microbiome to establish a sustainable food production system and maintain soil and plant health. Published literature indicated that rhizosphere-associated microbes are the prime force for governing the earth's biogeochemical processes because of their insidious and copious existence in the soil environment. The scientific community is betrothed in extensive research to select and commercialize the microorganisms of biotechnological and environmental significance. It is well-established that microbes aid in providing ecological sustainability in the agrarian system by protecting plants from damaging pests and diseases, promoting plant development, reducing environmental and nutritional stressors, and boosting plant resilience to various abiotic and biotic stress situations. Most importantly, crop growth and yield are directly linked to rhizosphere microbiota. Therefore, attempts have been made to review and synthesize the available literature on rhizosphere microorganisms' role in climate-resilient and sustainable crop production. Besides, a new novel and emerging strategies to deploy microbial consortia as potential bio-inoculants for rhizosphere engineering has been highlighted to improve crop yields and environmental protection that are currently in practice to combat the challenges imposed by ever-changing climate change in a sustainable and eco-compatible manner.