A Biotechnological Revolution in Soil Fertility: From Single Strain PGPR to Engineered Soil Microbiomes for Future Agriculture

Accumulating evidence from agricultural ecosystems across diverse climates and management regimes makes it increasingly clear that the progressive decline in soil biological fertility cannot be reduced to episodic nutrient shortages or isolated management failures. Rather, it reflects a deeper disruption in the biological organization of soil as a living system. Within this context, plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been widely promoted over the past two decades as biological alternatives to chemical inputs. Yet their inconsistent and often transient performance under field conditions raises a fundamental question: can a single strain logic genuinely address the inherent complexity of soil systems? This Vision Paper argues that the primary limitation of PGPR lies not in the intrinsic potential of individual strains, but in the mismatch between reductionist application strategies and the networked, dynamic, and context dependent nature of soil microbiomes. Accordingly, soil fertility is reframed here not as a direct outcome of biological input addition, but as an emergent property arising from multi layered microbial interactions, collective metabolic processes, and ecological feedbacks. The paper highlights how the convergence of omics based insights, soil–plant–microorganism systems modeling, ecologically informed design of microbial consortia, and adaptive monitoring of soil health enables a shift from “input application” toward functional management of soil microbiomes. Such a transition holds the potential to reduce structural dependence on synthetic fertilizers while enhancing nutrient cycling stability, soil resilience to climatic stress, and the continuity of soil ecosystem services. Ultimately, soil microbiome engineering is proposed as a foundational pillar of next generation fertility strategies, offering a scientifically grounded and realistic pathway for aligning food security with long term environmental sustainability in future agriculture

کلیدواژه ها:

Soil biological fertility ، Soil microbiome engineering ، Agricultural biotechnology ، Agroecosystem sustainability ، Plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)