Indispensable role of soil flora and fauna in maintaining soil quality: A thematic review for sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Soil is the dynamic naturally occurring, unconsolidated mineral and organic material at the earth surface that provides an environment for living organism. Soil epitomizes one of the most important reservoirs of biodiversity and monitoring its fertility is an important objective in the sustainable development of agro-ecosystems. The soil is a complex ecosystem with a highly diverse community of organism, both micro flora (fungi, bacteria, algae and Actinomycetes) and micro-fauna (protozoa, nematodes, earthworms, moles, ants) that is vital to the cycle of life on earth. Soil microorganism perform wide range of function such as they decompose organic matter, release nutrient into plant available form and degrade toxic residue, they also form symbiotic association with plant root, act as antagonists to pathogen, influence the weathering and solubilization of mineral and contribute to soil structure and aggregation. The soil microorganism also serves as biological indicator of soil. Likewise, in soil they are essential to play prospective role in maintaining soil health and to ass’s soil quality. The main intendment of this review paper to study the role of different soil microorganism in maintaining Soil quality. The objective of this review paper is to outline the indispensable role of soil microorganism in maintaining soil physical, chemical and biological properties and their potential importance as soil quality indicator for maintaining fertility of soil in sustainable agriculture.