Azotobacter Species as Sustainable Biofertilizers for Crop Productivity, Soil and Plant Health: A Comprehensive Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56919/usci.2651.001Keywords:
Azotobacter, Biofertilizer, Phytohormones, PhytopathogensAbstract
Azotobacter spp. are heterotrophic, nonsymbiotic, free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live primarily in neutral or alkaline soils. This review presents the most current literature, following PRISMA flow guidelines, to provide a comprehensive and contemporary view of Azotobacter as a multifunctional biofertilizer, including its mechanisms of action on crop yield, soil health, and plant health. By producing growth compounds and affecting plant growth, Azotobacter has the potential to be used as microbial inoculants, boosting agricultural crop yields. Azotobacteria are free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria that produce cytokinins, auxins, and other compounds that are key growth regulators and promoters. It protects plants from phytopathogens, promotes rhizosphere microorganisms, and safeguards plant health. Azotobacter-inoculated plants exhibit improved plant health through a variety of methods. For instance, speed up the synthesis of plant hormones like indole-3-acetic acid, remove stressors, fix nitrogen, degrade pesticides and oil globules, and metabolize heavy metals. Azotobacter application increased wheat yield by up to 30%, Maize by 20% and tomato by 20% compared with chemical fertilizers. Their application can improve crop yields, soil fertility, and plant health, offering an eco-friendly alternative to chemical fertilizers and supporting long-term soil management. Future research would focus on molecular mechanisms, strain selection, and integration with modern soil genomics to maximize benefits.
References
Aasfar, A., Bargaz, A., Yaakoubi, K., Hilali, A., Bennis, I., Zeroual, Y., & Meftah Kadmiri, I. (2021). Nitrogen fixing Azotobacter species as potential soil biological enhancers for crop nutrition and yield stability. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, 628379.
Abbas, H. S., Shahla, E. E., & Mohammed-Ridha, M. J. (2013). Equilibrium, kinetic, and thermodynamic biosorption of Pb (II), Cr (III), and Cd (II) ions by dead anaerobic biomass from synthetic wastewater. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 20(1), 175–187.
Akram, M., Rizvi, R., Sumbul, A., Ansari, R. A., & Mahmood, I. (2016). Potential role of bioinoculants and organic matter for the management of root-knot nematode infesting chickpea. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 2(1), 1183457.
Ansari, R. A., & Mahmood, I. (2019a). Plant health under biotic stress: Volume 1: Organic strategies. Springer Singapore.
Ansari, R. A., & Mahmood, I. (2019b). Plant health under biotic stress: Volume 2: Microbial interactions. Springer.
Arora, M., Saxena, P., Abdin, M. Z., & Varma, A. (2018). Interaction between Piriformospora indica and Azotobacter chroococcum governs better plant physiological and biochemical parameters in Artemisia annua L. plants grown under in vitro conditions. Symbiosis, 75(2), 103–112.
Baars, O., Zhang, X., Morel, F. M., & Seyedsayamdost, M. R. (2016). The siderophore metabolome of Azotobacter vinelandii. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82(1), 27–39.
Barrera, D. A., & Soto, E. (2010). Biotechnological uses of Azotobacter vinelandii: Current state, limits and prospects. African Journal of Biotechnology, 9(1), 5240–5250.
Bharti, N., Pandey, S. S., Barnawal, D., Patel, V. K., & Kalra, A. (2016). Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria Dietzia natronolimnaea modulates the expression of stress responsive genes providing protection of wheat from salinity stress. Scientific Reports, 6, 34768.
Daniel, A. I., Fadaka, A. O., Gokul, A., Bakare, O. O., Aina, O., Fisher, S., Burt, A. F., Mavumengwana, V., Keyster, M., & Klein, A. (2022). Biofertilizer: The future of food security and food safety. Microorganisms, 10(6), 1220.
Emami, S., Alikhani, H. A., Pourbabaee, A. A., Etesami, H., Motasharezadeh, B., & Sarmadian, F. (2020). Consortium of endophyte and rhizosphere phosphate solubilizing bacteria improves phosphorous use efficiency in wheat cultivars in phosphorus deficient soils. Rhizosphere, 14, 100196.
Garcha, S., Kaur, N., & Brar, J. K. (2024). Biofertilizers- Towards sustainable agriculture development. Advances in Research, 25(3), 254–258.
Gothandapani, S., Sekar, S., & Padaria, J. (2017). Azotobacter chroococcum: Utilization and potential use for agricultural crop production: An overview. International Journal of Advanced Research in Biological Sciences, 4(3), 35–42.
Hindersah, R., Kamaluddin, N., Samanta, S., Banerjee, S., & Sarkar, S. (2020). Role and perspective of Azotobacter in crops production. SAINS TANAH - Journal of Soil Science and Agroclimatology, 17(2), 170–179.
Jehani, M. D., Singh, S., Archana, T. S., Kumar, D., & Kumar, G. (2023). Azospirillum- a free-living nitrogen-fixing bacterium. In D. K. Maheshwari & S. Dheeman (Eds.), Rhizobiome (pp. 285–308). Elsevier.
Kyaw, E. P., Soe, M. M., San San Yu, Z. K. L., & Lynn, T. M. (2019). Study on plant growth promoting activities of Azotobacter isolates for sustainable agriculture in Myanmar. Journal of Biotechnological Biorescience, 1(5), 1–6.
Liu, S., Yang, B., Liang, Y., Xiao, Y., & Fang, J. (2020). Prospect of phytoremediation combined with other approaches for remediation of heavy metal-polluted soils. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27(14), 16069–16085.
Maheshwari, D. K., Dubey, R. C., Aeron, A., Kumar, B., Kumar, S., Tewari, S., & Arora, N. K. (2012). Integrated approach for disease management and growth enhancement of Sesamum indicum L. utilizing Azotobacter chroococcum TRA2 and chemical fertilizer. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 28(10), 3015–3024.
Mohan, J., Negi, N., Bharti, B., Kumar, A., & Arya, R. (2024). Azotobacter as a possible bio-fertilizer for managing soil and plant health: A review. Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology, 27(12), 143–152.
Mukherjee, B., Goswami, S., Pal, P., Mandal, T. K., Bhattacharya, U., Naskar, M. K., & Dutta, S. (2023). Improving crop nutrition through ecofriendly biofertilizers: Concept, types and benefits in agriculture. International Journal of Bioresource Science, 10(1), 107–116.
Mukungu, L. V. (2024). Nutrient sources for organic production: Soil biological and agronomic responses [Master’s thesis, University of Manitoba].
Munir, Y. A., Magaji, M., Muhammad, A. S., Muhammad, A. D., & Hussaini, M. (2025). A systematic review of neoantigen identification and clinical translation in cancer immunotherapy (2015-2025). UMYU Scientifica, 4(4), 050–071.
Naik, K., Mishra, S., Srichandan, H., Singh, P. K., & Sarangi, P. K. (2019). Plant growth promoting microbes: Potential link to sustainable agriculture and environment. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 21, 101326.
Razmjooei, Z., Etemadi, M., Eshghi, S., Ramezanian, A., Mirazimi Abarghuei, F., & Alizargar, J. (2022). Potential role of foliar application of Azotobacter on growth, nutritional value and quality of lettuce under different nitrogen levels. Plants, 11(3), 406.
Roy, A., Ghosh, A., Yash, Mehra, P., Roy, S., & Bhadury, P. (2025). Insights into the genome of Azotobacter sp. strain CWF10, isolated from an agricultural field in Central India. Access Microbiology, 7(4).
Sagar, A., Sayyed, R., Ramteke, P., Ramakrishna, W., Poczai, P., Obaid, S., & Ansari, M. (2022). Synergistic effect of Azotobacter nigricans and nitrogen phosphorus potassium fertilizer on agronomic and yield traits of maize (Zea mays L.). Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 952212.
Soleimanzadeh, H., & Gooshchi, F. (2013). Effects of Azotobacter and nitrogen chemical fertilizer on yield and yield components of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). World Applied Sciences Journal, 21(8), 1176–1180.
Soumare, A., Diedhiou, A. G., Thuita, M., Hafidi, M., Ouhdouch, Y., Gopalakrishnan, S., & Kouisni, L. (2020). Exploiting biological nitrogen fixation: A route towards a sustainable agriculture. Plants, 9(8), 1011.
Sumbul, A., Ansari, R. A., Rizvi, R., & Mahmood, I. (2020). Azotobacter: A potential bio-fertilizer for soil and plant health management. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 27(12), 3634–3640.
Tabassum, B., Khan, A., Tariq, M., Ramzan, M., Khan, M. S. I., & Shahid, N. (2017). Bottlenecks in commercialisation and future prospects of PGPR. Applied Soil Ecology, 121, 102–117.
Timmusk, S., Behers, L., Muthoni, J., Muraya, A., & Aronsson, A. C. (2017). Perspectives and challenges of microbial application for crop improvement. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, 49.
Timofeeva, A. M., Galyamova, M. R., & Sedykh, S. E. (2022). Bacterial siderophores: Classification, biosynthesis, perspectives of use in agriculture. Plants, 11(22), 3065.
Timofeeva, A. M., Galyamova, M. R., & Sedykh, S. E. (2022). Prospects for using phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms as natural fertilizers in agriculture. Plants, 11(16), 2119.
Timofeeva, A. M., Galyamova, M. R., & Sedykh, S. E. (2023). Plant growth-promoting soil bacteria: Nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophore production, and other biological activities. Plants, 12(24), 4074.
Ting-Fei, S., Zhi-Wei, G., Hang-Rong, X., Hao, Z., Shuai-Shuai, H., Ming-Guang, F., & Sheng-Hua, Y. (2024). Bioactive constituents, metabolites, and functions. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 72(33), 15439–15451.
Waleed, M. A., Sadoun, M. E. S., Ahmed, M. A., Hassan, M. A.-S., Mohamed Ahmed Mahmoud, Hanan G. Ismail, Islam I. Teiba, & Ahmed Fathy Yousef. (2025). Organic fertilizers and Azotobacter: Effects on onion growth, yield, metabolites, and soil fertility. Annals of Microbiology, 75(1), 86.
Zaib, M., Zubair, M., Aryan, M., Abdullah, M., Manzoor, S., Masood, F., & Saeed, S. (2023). A review on challenges and opportunities of fertilizer use efficiency and their role in sustainable agriculture with future prospects and recommendations. Current Research in Agriculture and Farming, 4(4), 1–14.
Zhang, F., Zhao, X., Li, Q., Liu, J., Ding, J., Wu, H., Zhao, Z., Ba, Y., Cheng, X., Cui, L., Li, H., & Zhu, J. (2018). Bacterial community structure and abundances of antibiotic resistance genes in heavy metals contaminated agricultural soil. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 25(10), 9547–9555.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Aisha Buhari Salisu, Hindatu Yusuf, Shiaka Gimba Peter, Nura Haris Garba, Sadiq Haruna, Nuhu Zandam Danladi, Nafisa Haruna Sani, Buhari Salisu (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
UMYU Scientifica recognizes the importance of protecting authors’ intellectual property while promoting the free exchange of scientific knowledge. The journal adopts a copyright-retention model that empowers authors to maintain ownership of their work while granting the journal rights necessary for publication and dissemination.
1. Copyright Ownership
Authors publishing with UMYU Scientifica retain full copyright and publishing rights to their work. By submitting a manuscript, authors agree to grant the journal a non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, distribute, and archive the article in all forms and media for the purpose of scholarly communication.
2. Licensing Terms
All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license.
This license permits others to:
- Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
- Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material.
- For non-commercial purposes only, provided that proper credit is given to the original author(s) and UMYU Scientifica as the source, a link to the license is provided, and any modifications are clearly indicated.
Commercial reuse or distribution of the content requires written permission from both the author and the editorial office.
3. Author Rights
Authors are free to:
- Deposit all versions of their manuscript (preprint, accepted version, and published version) in institutional, disciplinary, or public repositories without embargo.
- Use and distribute their published article for non-commercial scholarly purposes, including teaching, conference presentations, and research sharing.
- Include their work in future books, theses, or compilations, provided proper citation to the journal is made.
4. Publisher’s Rights
Upon publication, UMYU Scientifica retains the right to:
- Host, index, and disseminate the article through the journal’s website and partner databases.
- Archive the content in long-term preservation systems such as the PKP Preservation Network (PKP-PN) and the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University Institutional Repository.
5. Attribution and Citation
Users must give appropriate credit to the author(s), include a link to the article’s DOI or the journal webpage, and indicate if changes were made. Proper citation is required whenever the work is reused or referenced.
6. License Reference
For detailed terms of use, please refer to the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0):
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
