Summary
This greenhouse study demonstrates that functionally diverse microbial consortia, assembled to promote rhizosphere colonization and fungal-mediated nutrient and water acquisition, can substantially buffer the yield and physiological costs of deficit irrigation in leafy greens. Across lettuce and spinach, consortium treatments increased yield by 3–9% and 4–13% respectively under 30% water restriction, with some treatments restoring performance to fully irrigated levels whilst reducing water input by one-third. The findings suggest soil microbiome-based inoculants represent a scalable, non-chemical approach to improve agricultural water-use efficiency and crop resilience under increasing water scarcity.
Regional applicability
The study was conducted under controlled greenhouse conditions with temperate leafy greens (lettuce and spinach) commonly cultivated in the United Kingdom, suggesting direct relevance to intensive UK horticulture. However, field validation and testing under UK climatic and soil conditions would be needed to confirm practical applicability to commercial UK vegetable production systems.
Key measures
Yield (% increase); harvest delay (days); root length; wilting incidence; chlorophyll content; Water Band Index (WBI); water use efficiency
Outcomes reported
The study evaluated yield, physiological status (chlorophyll content, wilting, water stress), root morphology, and harvest timing of lettuce and spinach grown under full and deficit (30% reduction) irrigation regimes, with and without microbial consortium inoculants. Measured outcomes included yield gain, harvest delay reduction, root length improvement, and water stress indices.
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