The mycorrhizal hyphosphere: a powerful natural engine for plant phosphate nutrition.

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The world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and such an increase will require raising global food production by more than 70%. When land is used intensively for agricultural production, soil fertility declines rapidly, since nutrients are extracted from the soil by crops. Historically, agro-chemicals have been used to mitigate this nutrient loss, and to maintain or increase annual crop yields. However, the increased use of agro-chemicals lead to serious environmental problems in addition to the economic losses. For instance, fertilizer budget account for $160 billion in global markets in 2011 and represented ~$3.4 billion annually in Canada, making it the 2nd leading expense of farm operation after feed. The rapid depletion of available phosphate (P) source is of alarming concern since at the present rate of consumption, these reserves will be depleted within 50-100 years. Among the future sustainable long-term scenarios to solve this urgent need, the development of new biofertilizers based on beneficial microorganisms is of paramount importance. The management of beneficial microorganisms in agriculture cannot only preserve soil health but can also ensures sustainable use of non-renewable resources like P, increase crop quality and yield as well as greatly reduce cost per hectare. This industry-driven project aims to create a "new microbial based-fertilizer formulation" that combines the beneficial effects of two of the most important plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPM): the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and their intimately associated phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB), along with sources of inorganic P from phosphate rock (PR). This new product meets an increased market demand and tendency of reduction of agro-chemical inputs reduction and employment of alternative strategies for increasing global food production.