Indigenous Microbial Consortia in Biopriming:A Natural Alternative to Chemical Treatments for Enhancing the Growth Dynamics of Cereal Crops

Cereal crops (paddy, maize and wheat) are backbone of global food and nutritional security. Excessive use of chemical inputs in agriculture ensures their production and productivity, but also leads to environmental deterioration and health concerns. This study explains the potential of seed biopriming with microbial consortia as a promising alternative to enhancing growth attributes in cereal crops while reducing reliance on agrochemicals. Four putative indigenous microbial strains, Trichoderma asperellum, Trichoderma harzianum, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescenswere selected to form microbial consortia based on their mutual compatibility. The consortiawere applied to paddy, maize and wheat seeds at varying doses, and different soaking durations. The results demonstrated that biopriming significantly (p ≤ 0.05)increased root and shoot lengths across all three cereals, with the most pronounced effects observed in seeds treated with Consortium-IV,encompassingT. asperellum+T.harzianum+ B. subtilis+ P.fluorescence. After soaking for 30 minutes in Consortium-IV,bioprimed seeds exhibited maximum root and shoot length in paddy (11.33±0.15 and 5.30±0.10cm, respectively), maize (19.10±0.10 and 12.83±0.05cm, respectively) and wheat (19.10±0.10and 12.43±0.05cm, respectively).Phenolic content in bioprimed seeds and seedlings was alsoenhancedsignificantly (p ≤ 0.05)in paddy (3.47±0.16 and 7.70±0.09 mgg-1,respectively), maize (3.76±0.11 and 7.86±0.05mgg-1, respectively) and wheat (0.86±0.03 and 2.26±0.005mgg-1, respectively). The findings of the present investigations suggest that biopriming with microbial consortia offer an environment friendly approach to improving cereal crop productivity under climate smart resilience conditions, that reduce the dependence on chemical inputs in sustainable agriculture.