Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

SYNERGISM OF BENEFICIAL MICROBES HELPS TO REJUVENATEFLOOD AND LANDSLIDE AFFECTED SOILS FOR SUSTAINABLEAGRICULTURE – A REVIEW

A Haseena and K Surendra Gopal

Abstract

Climatic disasters, like floods and landslides, are the major causes for the decline in soil fertility or soilorganic matter. Soil organic matter influences the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil; it isthe fundamental aspect that discloses soil health. Microorganisms in the soil environment participate acritical task in the enhancement of soil nutrients and soil fertility. Even though microbial bioinoculants arewidely studied for improving agriculture, the application of microbial consortium for the restoration oforganic matter or soil fertility in the flood and landslide depleted soils are yet to be exploited. The part ofliving biomass, i.e. soil microorganisms in restoring soil organic matter seems to be crucial, as microbes arethe major drivers in escalating organic matter in the soil. The living biomass recycles the nutrients in thesoil by utilizing the plant and animal litter in the soil and offers the crops adequate nutrients. Thus,microorganisms can force the accumulation of stable and chemically diverse soil organic matter in poorfertile soils. Exploring such vibrant, complex advantageous interactions among microorganisms seemsimperative to replenish organic matter exhausted soil. This article reviews the relevance of soil organicmatter, the role of soil microorganisms in improving soil organic matter and emphasizes the need forintensive research in raising beneficial microbiome for replenishing soil organic matter and thus to rejuvenatethe flood and landslide depleted soils to sustain agriculture.