Australian research: Fungal microbes enhance soil health, yields, carbon storage

(MENAFN) Australian researchers have discovered that incorporating microbial biotechnology into farming practices offers significant advantages for soil regeneration, enhancing crop yields, and capturing atmospheric carbon.

The University of Queensland (UQ) announced in a press release on Wednesday that collaborative field trials conducted at the university by researchers from UQ and agri-biotech firm Loam Bio have demonstrated the effectiveness of fungal microbes on soybean plants. These beneficial microbes reside within the plants, facilitating improved absorption of water and essential nutrients. In turn, the plants provide carbon to the microbes.

"It's a symbiotic relationship where in return for providing the host plant with nutrients and water, the fungal microbes get carbon as a food," explained Vijaya Singh, a research fellow at UQ's Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation and the lead author of the study.

Singh further noted that this interaction not only increases the amount of carbon stored in the soil but also enhances soil structure, water retention capabilities, and nutrient availability, ultimately leading to greater grain yields.

Neeraj Purushotham, a researcher at Loam Bio, which has been developing these specific microbes for over four years, stated that initial results from the trials are promising. He added that the microbes contribute to building stable carbon reserves in the soil, thereby reducing the necessity for synthetic fertilizers while simultaneously increasing crop production.

Purushotham highlighted the twofold advantage of this technology, noting that enhancing carbon sequestration not only supports farmers but also improves soil health, which in turn reduces the need for fertilizers.

The researchers, whose findings were recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, concluded that this microbial biotechnology holds the potential to be a transformative innovation for the agricultural industry.

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