Improving Crop Yield and Nutrient Use Efficiency via Biofertilization

The application of microbial inoculants (biofertilizers) is a promising technology for future sustainable farming systems in view of rapidly decreasing phosphorus stocks and the need to more efficiently use available nitrogen (N). Various microbial taxa are currently used as biofertilizers, based on their capacity to access nutrients from fertilizers and soil stocks, to fix atmospheric nitrogen, to improve water uptake or to act as biocontrol agents. Despite the existence of a considerable knowledge on effects of specific taxa of biofertilizers, a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the performance of biofertilizers with different traits such as phosphorus solubilization and N fixation applied to various crops at a global scale is missing. We conducted a meta-analysis to quantify benefits of biofertilizers in terms of yield increase, nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency, based on 171 peer reviewed publications that met eligibility criteria. Major findings are: the superiority of biofertilizer performance in dry climates over other climatic regions; meta-regression analyses revealed that yield response due to biofertilizer application was generally small at low soil P levels; efficacy increased along higher soil P levels in the order arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), P solubilizers, and N fixers; meta-regressions showed that the success of inoculation with AMF was greater at low organic matter content and at neutral pH. Our comprehensive analysis provides a basis and guidance for proper choice and application of biofertilizers.
 
Conclusions
 
We have analyzed three different effect sizes each giving a different perspective on the success of biofertilizers. It was found that dryland agriculture can benefit most from biofertilizers. Due to climate change, in the future there will be even more dryland areas globally. Biofertilizers are thus a promising option for sustainable agriculture. In the future, pretests of the soil community may predict the competitive chance of biofertilizer in a specific soil and help to efficiently produce adapted biofertilizers for each specific application.
 
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