Integrating Microbial Inoculants and Green Technologies for Enhanced Plant Nutrition and Protection

Microbial inoculants and green technologies are becoming more and more important in sustainable agricultural production as a way to lower chemical inputs without sacrificing resilience and yield. Rhizobacteria, mycorrhizae, and endophytes are beneficial microbes that improve nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and disease suppression. However, because of environmental losses and limited durability, their effectiveness in the field is sometimes unpredictable. The lifespan, targeted release, and effectiveness of bioinoculants can be enhanced by developments in environmentally benign delivery methods (biodegradable encapsulation, nano- and micro-carriers), precise application, and integration with soil health measures. Opportunities to increase nutrient-use efficiency, manage diseases, and promote climate-resilient agroecosystems are presented by combining microbial solutions with low-impact, renewable technologies. In order to expedite scalable, sustainable plant nutrition and protection measures, this research topic looks for investigations that bridge the gaps between basic microbial ecology, formulation science, and real-world deployment.

The current reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides contributes to environmental damage and declining soil health, while microbial inoculants and green technologies that could mitigate these effects frequently fail to produce consistent results at scale due to poor formulation, survival, delivery, and context-dependent efficacy. This Research Topic seeks to fill these gaps by encouraging multidisciplinary research that combines microbial ecology, formulation science, agronomy, and engineering to create durable, environmentally friendly delivery methods and integrated management techniques. Priorities include optimizing encapsulation and carrier materials for targeted release and persistence; understanding microbe-plant-soil interactions in the field; developing precision application tools and decision-support models; conducting multi-location field trials and life-cycle assessments; and overcoming regulatory, economic, and adoption barriers. The goal is to produce scalable, evidence-based strategies that enhance nutrient-use efficiency, disease control, and resilience, enabling wider adoption of sustainable plant nutrition and protection solutions.

This Research Topic welcomes interdisciplinary studies that advance integration of microbial inoculants and green technologies to improve plant nutrition and protection. Key themes include: encapsulation and biodegradable carrier development; formulation stability, targeted release, and shelf-life; microbe–plant–soil interaction mechanisms; field and greenhouse evaluations across environments and crops; precision application tools and delivery engineering; life-cycle, economic and risk assessments; regulatory, social acceptance, and scaling pathways; and meta-analyses or modelling of efficacy and environmental impacts.

We encourage contributions that link lab-scale mechanistic insights with translational field data.

Manuscript types: original research articles, comprehensive reviews, methods and protocols, short communications, perspectives and opinion pieces, meta-analyses/systematic reviews, and data papers. Submissions should include clear experimental design, statistical analysis, and discussion of scalability and sustainability implications.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: plant nutritionm plant protection, microorganisms, Green Technology, plant growth promotors, encapsulation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.