Microbial consortia-based biofertilizers represent a potential approach to sustainably support agricultural productivity, while preserving soil fertility and reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effects of compound microbial inoculants and composite carriers on sugarcane growth and rhizosphere microecology. Two sugarcane varieties, GT42 and LC05136, were subjected to three treatments: a sterile control (CK), liquid compound microbial inoculants (CMI), and compound microbial inoculants combined with compound carriers (CMI-CC). The experiment was designed to systematically assess the impact of these treatments on agronomic traits, photosynthetic physiology, soil physicochemical properties, and the rhizosphere bacterial community structure. The results indicated that the CMI-CC treatment was associated with significantly higher plant height, stem diameter, Brix, dry matter accumulation, net photosynthetic rate, and chlorophyll content. 16S rRNA sequencing analysis revealed that the CMI-CC treatment was linked to a distinct shift in rhizosphere microbial community structure, enriching beneficial taxa, such as Proteobacteria. Furthermore, a significant correlation was observed between microbial community assembly and plant growth parameters. This study provides a theoretical basis for precise microbial fertilizer application in the sustainable production of sugarcane.
Pang et al. (2026) studied this question.