Title: Sustainable food and bioenergy production using microbiome and recycling organic residues

Biography:

Eiko E. Kuramae has expertise on soil microbial ecology and environmental genomics. She is Senior Scientist and Project Leader of The Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Microbial Ecology Department leading Nacional and International projects on soil ecosystem driven by microbiome diversity and function with emphasis on Nitrogen and Carbon cycling. She leads and collaborates in international projects on sustainable food and bioenergy production.

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture depends on healthy soil and soil microbial diversity and thus must focus on managing soil microbes to deliver more efficient ecosystem services to crops. Moreover, intensified crop production demands integrated nutrient management systems to maintain agricultural productivity and protect the environment. Using beneficial native microbes (bacteria and fungi) that promote plant health and quality and, recycling crop residues with low environmental impact are ultimate practices for sustainable food and energy production. The current studies show that sugarcane endophyte bacteria and fungi when inoculated in plantlets promote plant growth and health (microorganisms antagonistic to sugarcane pathogens)[1]. Subsequently, following the crop cycling production, our studies on residue (vinasse) recycling as a sustainable practice, show that the combination of sugarcane residue rich in carbon, nitrogen, potassium and microbes when applied together with inorganic fertilizer, emits more nitrous oxide than inorganic fertilizers and impacts soil microbiome. In addition, when no residues is applied to the field, we show that the high N2O emissions are through nitrification process and, in order to mitigate N2O emissions we show that the use of nitrification inhibitors is a practical solution and, more importantly, these compounds do not affect soil microbial community diversity . In summary, our studies show the sustainable crop production for food and bioenergy by using biological native resources (beneficial bacteria and fungi) and recycling organic residues.