Actinobacterial Biofertilizers: An Alternative Strategy for Plant Growth Promotion

The problem of food security arises along with the increase in world population. To meet the enormous food demands of growing population, farmers use traditional agricultural practices which mainly rely on use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides which are extensively harmful to the humans as well as environment. Therefore, there is an immense demand for an alternate strategy to increase the food productivity and quality which does not rely on use of these harmful chemicals. This increasing demand of lesser use of these chemicals has led to the use of soil microorganisms which possess the ability of nutrient cycling, improve soil quality and plant health as well as crop productivity. Among soil microorganisms, actino-bacteria represent an important group of microorganisms which has been reported to produce some useful substances which help in increasing soil quality and improve plant growth promotion as well as crop productivity. Hence, actino-bacteria represent a key component of agricultural ecosystems. This is important to increase our knowledge about interaction of these microorganisms with the soil ecosystem. On the basis of several studies, the present article highlights the importance of actino-bacteria in plant growth promotion by various means