PGPR-Assisted Bioremediation and Plant Growth: A Sustainable Approach for Crop Production Using Polluted Soils

Crops are required to fulfill the increasing needs of food for increasing population of the world. A lot of area in the world is polluted/degraded due to varying types of salinity, nutrient pollution, pesticides, and heavy metals stresses. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can increase soil productivity and bioremediation efficiency of these soils as they involve different microorganisms and different substances to treat or detoxify the pollutants in an eco-friendly way. These PGPR and their exudates detoxify an extensive array of pollutants both organic and inorganic, e.g., heavy metals and different types of pesticides and herbicides. The use of PGPR for this purpose is the most common practice, and they can be used in situ and act as eco-friendly and environment-friendly. Regardless of the harmful effect of pesticides and heavy metals, their use is increasing day by day. There are many techniques to cope with their harmful effects, but there is another issue that there are side effects of these techniques. However, bioremediation using PGPR is a sustainable way to get rid of pollutants from the contaminated sites as it leaves detoxified products on the sites. In addition to the bioremediation of polluted soils, PGPR also enhance plant growth and productivity by supplying desired nutrients to plants and soils. In this chapter, we have discussed the pollutant sources, their effects, and their remediation through a sustainable way with mechanisms and some of its advantages along with the drawbacks with future needs of research.