Sustainability of biofertilizers and other allied products from genetically modified microorganisms

The rapid rise in human population has brought about an urgent deployment of biological technologies for the improvement of crop productivity and attainment of global food and nutrition security. The overdependence on chemical fertilizers (especially nitrogen-based fertilizer) for intensive and commercial agriculture has been associated with emerging environmental hazards and climate change. High nitrogen fertilizer usage has resulted into nitrous oxide emissions, as well as pollution of ground water through nitrogen leaching. The direct and indirect utilization of beneficial microbial resources as the next generation of biofertilizers is rapidly gaining attention as a sustainable technology for the production of eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic fertilizers. Biofertilizers are revered for their capacity to improve crop productivity, guarantee food safety, enhance soil microbial diversity, and promote soil nutrients and organic matter. Integrating this technology with molecular re-engineering or genetic modification has greatly facilitated the efficiency of such beneficial microbial strains that include cyanobacteria, fungi, bacteria, and microalgae, that are common sources of biofertilizers.