Alternatives to maintain the microbial activity of the soil

Dear readers, as we all know the soil is one of the fundamental pillars of agriculture because it is the biological basis for the development of plants, we describe it that way because some may see the soil as an inert element, but it is quite the opposite, the soil is composed of a wide variety of meso and microorganisms that play a fundamental role in maintaining the fertility of it, when talking about fertility is that it contains the structure, nutritional elements, moisture enters other characteristics that allow at first the germination of the seeds and then the maintenance of the plants.

The meso and microorganisms help to maintain all these characteristics as long as the ecosystem is not excessively altered by toxic substances, such as the indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, within the main functions of microorganisms is the decomposition of organic matter, that is, they have the ability for example to decompose the leaves that fall the soil returning or recycling part of the nutrients that were in it, which is a natural process that strengthens the entire ecosystem, in the same way meso organisms such as worms help the aeration of the because when they move inside the soil they create small pores.

Taking into account the aforementioned, there are alternatives to maintain the biological activity of the soil, which consists of decreasing the use of agro-toxins and starting to implement the use of worm leaching and inoculation with bacteria and fungi which has begun to gain space in the market since, there are commercial products with strains of that type of organisms which some can be applied directly to the soil and with others for example, seeds can be inoculated so that after they are in the soil these organisms begin to multiply.

Of the worms can be incorporated into the soil the solid product obtained from the decomposition of the materials that are applied or the leachate that are obtained when the worms are watered to maintain the moisture of the organic matter that is fundamental for the development of the worms, these elements are a great source of nutrients for plants and a great food for visible and non-visible animals that live in the soil, apart from them, a wide variety of microorganisms are integrated that come from the degradation processes carried out by worms when the substances they suck pass through their digestive system.

There are also fungi known as mycorrhizae that can penetrate into the roots of plants, or remain in the soil, these fungi allow there to be a greater absorption of nutrients from the soil such as phosphorus, since, according to Velázquez et al. (2017) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (HMA) increase the uptake of soluble phosphates, while phosphorus solubilizing fungi (S) promote the solubilization of insoluble phosphate complexes, significantly benefiting plants. When the fungus is in the soil it will be responsible for colonizing the soil creating a natural environment that favors the development of the crop without the need for these microorganisms to be inoculated constantly.

In the same way, bacteria that help nitrogen fixation such as those of the genus Azotobacter can be inoculated to the soil, which benefits the fixation of such an important nutritional element as nitrogen that helps plant growth. Dear readers, scientific and technological research in recent decades has allowed the study of soil organisms such as those mentioned above that favor the development of plants and therefore food production worldwide, clearly these are agroecological alternatives that allow maintaining the sustainability of agroecosystems from an environmental, social and economic point of view.