MICROBIAL SEED TREATMENTS AND THE SEED MICROBIOME: A NEW PARADIGM FOR ECO-FRIENDLY APPROACHES TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture requires environmentally friendly strategies that maintain crop productivity while reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Microbial seed treatments have emerged as a promising, low input approach to enhance crop establishment, productivity and resilience. Concurrently, the seed microbiome the community of bacteria, fungi, archaea and other microorganisms associated with seeds has gained recognition as a key regulator of seed germination, seedling establishment, plant growth, nutrient acquisition, disease resistance and the vertical transmission of beneficial microorganisms across generations. This review highlights the role of microbial seed treatments and the seed microbiome in promoting eco-friendly crop production. It discusses the composition and functions of the seed microbiome and examines microbial seed treatment approaches, including seed coating, biopriming, microbial inoculation and microbiome engineering. Beneficial microorganisms improve nutrient mobilization, phytohormone production, biological nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, pathogen suppression and induced systemic resistance, thereby enhancing germination, seedling vigor, nutrient-use efficiency, yield stability and tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat and waterlogging. Recent advances in synthetic microbial consortia, next-generation sequencing, multi-omics technologies, artificial intelligence and genome editing have expanded opportunities to optimize microbial selection, colonization and field performance. The review also addresses key challenges, including formulation stability, shelf life, host genotype specificity, environmental variability, biosafety and large-scale field validation. Overall, integrating microbial seed treatments with seed microbiome management offers a sustainable strategy to improve crop productivity, climate resilience and resource use efficiency while minimizing agrochemical inputs. Continued research integrating microbiome science, advanced biotechnology and precision agriculture will facilitate the development of reliable, climate smart seed technologies for sustainable crop production.