Formulações microbianas para melhorar o crescimento e a resiliência das culturas sob stresse de seca e deficiência de fósforo

Under climate uncertainty, human population rising, and resource limitation there is an urgent need in optimizing agricultural production. Abiotic stresses, notably drought, exert substantial pressure on crop yields worldwide, leading to reduced agricultural productivity. Additionally, a significant number of soils exhibit deficiencies in essential nutrients, such as P, which is critical for plant growth and development. The limited availability of P in soils lead to the application of high doses of P-fertilizers to ensure adequate crop nutrition and yield. However, the reliance on synthetic fertilizers, poses significant environmental risks and contributes to soil degradation over time. There is an increasing demand in soil sustainable management practices to attain healthier agricultural soils, while ensuring agricultural productivity. Biofertilizers containing PGPB and AMF can help meeting this goal by benefiting plant growth and resilience under drought stress conditions and low P bioavailability in soils. However, despite scientific evidence on their positive effects, microbial-based products are not yet seen as reliable allies in agricultural production by farmers as there is sometimes a mismatch between what they provide and what they are meant to fulfil in the field. This is the main bottleneck for a greater adoption of this biotechnological tool in current farming practices. Additionally, production and storage of the products also pose significant challenges, entailing concerns like the selection of effective microbial consortia for a target culture and the suitability of carriers to preserve viability of microbial consortia for long periods of storage. To tackle these challenges, MicroDROP will adopt a multidisciplinary approach integrating various research disciplines, such as biotechnology, agronomy, materials science, crop management, environmental microbiology, and molecular biology. This holistic approach is essential to achieve the primary goal of the project: enhancing maize growth and yield, while simultaneously enhancing crucial soil functions and biodiversity under water stress conditions and reduced P-fertilizer rates. Moreover, this project intends to go further, aiming to identify the gene network that are distinctly altered in plants by the application of biofertilizers under water stress conditions and lower P fertilization. This will allow to elucidate the beneficial mechanisms and opening new perspectives for biofertilizers uses and effectiveness. This innovative approach will play a crucial role in paving the way for a new generation of biofertilizers distinguished by improved consistency and efficacy. To attend MicroDROP primary goal, several secondary aims were established: -To devise biofertilizers with longer shelf life produced with new carriers derived from by-products -To assess beneficial effects of biofertilizers on maize yield under water stress conditions and lower P fertilization -To evaluate the best carrier derived from by-products for improving biofertilizers efficiency under field conditions -To determine plant response to biofertilizers under drought and reduced P fertilization by checking their gene expression signatures -To draw guidelines for final product application by farmers to foster their willingness to adopt greener solutions