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Fruit crops offer a strong sink for sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, thereby, aid in moderating the impact of climate change-related issues, besides creating a parallel nutrient sink. Mere annual application of organic manures/composts has failed to address different soil fertility functions due to failure to prolong the impact of soil organic pool on long-term basis. The paradigm shifts from purely inorganic to either organic fertilizers or in combination with chemical fertilizers and microbial inoculants (preferably in consortium mode) started gaining wide scale use for enhanced soil health vis-à-vis elevated quality production and reduced rhizosphere CO 2 emmission. This change of concept later formed the basis for Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM)-based strategy involving three basic components viz., microbial inoculants (biofertilizers), inorganic fertilizers, and organic fertilizers. Development of microbial consortium exploiting the microbial synergisms with variety of fruit crops as an important component of ISFM is one of the popular methods of managing multiple soil fertility constraints occurring within the rhizosphere. Further advancements in rhizosphere-specific consortia (often by scaling up crop-microbiome) mediated ISFM could further fulfil the nutrient demand and supply by crop. Upscaling such studies through rhizosphere hybridization has provided some initial inroads in harnessing the potential of different rhizosphere microbial communities. ISFM studies carried out in fruit crops in India, Iran, and China showed better agronomic response and soil health-related properties, considered very close to climate-resilient soil fertility management, a gateway to sustainable quality production. The review also highlights the future directions for ISFM in fruit crops catering to their multiple requirements.

Many studies have conducted to determine the best management practice to reduce the mobility and phytoavailability of the trace metals in contaminated soils. In this study, geochemical speciation and phytoavailability of Zn for sunflower were studied after application of nanoparticles (SiO and zeolite, with an application rate of 200 mg kg) and bacteria [Bacillus safensis FO-036b(T) and Pseudomonas fluorescens p.f.169] to a calcareous heavily contaminated soil. Results showed that the biotic and abiotic treatments significantly reduced the Zn concentration in the aboveground to non-toxicity levels compared to the control treatment, and the nanoparticle treatments were more effective than the bacteria and control treatments. The concentration of CaCl-extractable Zn in the treated soils was significantly lower than those of the control treatment. The results of sequential extraction showed that the maximum portion of total Zn belonged to the fraction associated with iron and manganese oxides. On the contrary, the minimum percent belonged to the exchangeable and water-soluble Zn (F). From the environmental point of view, the fraction associated with iron and manganese oxides is less bioavailable than the F and carbonated fractions. On the basis of plant growth promotion, simultaneous application of the biotic and abiotic treatments significantly increased the aboveground dry biomass yield and also significantly reduced the CaCl-extractable form, uptake by aboveground and translocation factor of Zn compared to the control treatment. Therefore, it might be suggested as an efficient strategy to promote the plant growth and reduce the mobile and available forms of toxic metals in calcareous heavily contaminated soils.

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