Advanced technologies are commonly used in modern agriculture to break the yield barriers and increase crop productivity. Seeds treated with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are an effective bio-priming method to introduce beneficial microbial inocula into the rhizosphere or soil. Bio-priming is a type of seed treatment that employs biological entities, which involves the hydration of seeds and inoculation with beneficial microorganisms. Mainly, the seed bio-priming technique improves the seed quality, germination, viability, vigor index, growth promotion, production, and subsequent disease resistance by enhancing the uniform speed of germination and production of others growth regulators. In the majority of cases, bacterial inoculants mostly PGPR are used for seed bio-priming, it is an ecologically comprehensive strategy that uses selected PGPR to promote plant growth by producing regulatory substances, enhancing uptake of nutrients, protecting seedlings/plants from seed or soil-borne pathogens. Bio-priming methods using PGPR inoculants are becoming more common in modern agriculture as an alternative to chemical treatments. They are more environmentally sustainable and safer for future agriculture apart from improving plants and soil health.
Keywords: Bio-priming; Growth improvement; PGPR; Plant immunity; Seed priming.
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