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Challenges, Regulations and Future Actions in Biofertilizers in the European Agriculture: From the Lab to the Field

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Microbial Probiotics for Agricultural Systems

Part of the book series: Sustainability in Plant and Crop Protection ((SUPP))

Abstract

Microorganisms have been used in agriculture for more than a century, beginning with the rhizobia inoculants and, more recently, the so-called plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Generally, bacteria have proven to be a valid and useful biotechnology for crop production. In spite of the existing knowledge about functional aspects of the interaction between microorganisms and plants and their effects on plants growth, adoption of such products by farmers is still incipient in some regions of the world, especially in industrialised areas While in Asia and Latin America they are widespread, in Europe they are still emerging. This chapter analyses the challenges of the European sector, including: (i) avoiding inconsistences in field performance, and (ii) informing and training farmers about this technology. Emerging regulation in Europe are also examined. Last, it discusses the prospective actions to help overcome challenges while also staying within the current regulation guidelines, including: (i) searching for autochthonous strains, (ii) optimisation of the industrial production and formulation, (iii) development of techniques for precise strain identification in products, especially for non-sterile carriers, (iv) field experiments at the “farmers scale,” and (v) screening action mechanisms from a genetic viewpoint. This chapter reviews the scientific information about field trials from a critical standpoint.

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Acknowledgements

The research line “Biofertilisers for Sustainable Agriculture” belonging to the research group IQUIMAB (University of León), has been financially supported since 2014 to date by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (project RTC2014-1793-2), by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (project 2015/ACDE/1339), and by the European Comission call H2020 (project NEWFERT).

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Author notes

  1. Authors Marcia Barquero and Raquel Pastor-Buies have been equally contributed to this chapter.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Group IQUIMAB, Institute of Environment Natural Resources and Biodiversity, University of León, León, Spain

    Marcia Barquero, Raquel Pastor-Buies & Fernando González-Andrés

  2. Area of Economy, Sociology and Agrarian Policy, University of Valladolid, Palencia Campus, Palencia, Spain

    Beatriz Urbano

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  1. Marcia Barquero
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  2. Raquel Pastor-Buies
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  3. Beatriz Urbano
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  4. Fernando González-Andrés
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fernando González-Andrés .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Ecología Microbiana y Biotecnología, Departamento de Biología-Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru

    Doris Zúñiga-Dávila

  2. Research Group IQUIMAB, Institute of Environment Natural Resources and Biodiversity, University of León, León, Spain

    Fernando González-Andrés

  3. Laboratorio de Ecología Microbiana y Biotecnología, Departamento de Biología-Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru

    Ernesto Ormeño-Orrillo

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Barquero, M., Pastor-Buies, R., Urbano, B., González-Andrés, F. (2019). Challenges, Regulations and Future Actions in Biofertilizers in the European Agriculture: From the Lab to the Field. In: Zúñiga-Dávila, D., González-Andrés, F., Ormeño-Orrillo, E. (eds) Microbial Probiotics for Agricultural Systems. Sustainability in Plant and Crop Protection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17597-9_6

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