Agricultural use of beneficial microorganisms in the aspect of environmental protection
Under field conditions plants interact with a diversity of microorganisms, however, both conventional and organic agriculture already affected the soil microbiome leading to decrease of soil quality, nutritional value of crops and creating necessity to use a range of chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides to avoid spread of unwanted pathogenic microbes.
The FUNICE project addresses local communities that are involved in ecological production of food and will help to optimize organic agriculture, ensuring sustainability and lower concentration of pesticides used. Shortage of information to the farmers, and lack of application technology are prevalent. Development of the microbial products is hindered due to the lack of understanding not only among farmers but also policymakers and often among school teachers educating future farmers. The strategy is to bridge the gap between research and farmers, to embed academic knowledge into the policy process from the beginning. International cooperation will help to exchange experiences in solving problems and will stimulate sharing the microbial strains that can be of importance under changing climate.