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Food Chemistry 2018
Journal of Food, Nutrition and Population Health
ISSN: 2577-0586
Page 94
July 23-24, 2018
Rome, Italy
3
rd
Edition of International Conference on
Agriculture &
Food Chemistry
J Food Nutr Popul Health 2018, Volume 2
DOI: 10.21767/2577-0586-C2-006
I
ntensive agriculture and climate change have induced worldwide a
progressive soil depletion and biodiversity erosion, leading to rising
crops needs for fertilization and plant protection, accompanied by a
gradual loss of effectiveness of chemical fertilizers and phytosanitary
products. The resilience of plant/soil systems to abiotic stresses can
be strongly dependent from soil biologic fertility and biodiversity.
Soil microorganisms can modify the physiological plant response to
biotic and abiotic stresses, and several microbial strains have already
been selected and made commercially available as biofertilizers.
Plants can be supported by soil microorganisms to tolerate drought
by several direct or indirect mechanisms. Drought stress drastically
reduces plant growth and crop yield, mainly by reducing the plant
photosynthetic activity due to stomatal closure or by structural and
functional changes in the photosynthetic apparatus. The physiological
behavior of plants in response to drought can be significantly different
when they are inoculated with rhizospheric selected microbial strains
or consortia; in particular, gas exchange parameters are affected,
and an improved stomatal conductance allows to maintain a good
photosynthetic activity even under lowwater availability. Produce yield
and quality can be strongly affected, relying on microorganisms and
plant species. Therefore, a proper soil management, respecting the
micro biotic components andmaking use of selectedmicroorganisms
as inoculants, can both support agricultural activities in drought
seasons and optimize the use of the water source.
laura.bardi@crea.gov.itUse of rhizosferic microorganisms to improve plant
response to drought stress and produce quality
Laura Bardi
CREA-IT Council for Agricultural Research and Economics- Research Centre for Engineering and
Agro-Food Processing