Soil sickness: current status and future perspectives

Abstract

In agriculture soil sickness is a major problem, which reduces the crops yield. It is caused by various factors viz., soil nutrients imbalance, autotoxins production and accumulation, changes in soil microbial community structure (development of harmful microbes). Soil sickness is major problenm in Food crops (Rice, wheat, corn, mungbean. soybean etc), Cash ceops (Sugarcane, tobacco, peanut), Vegtetables (Cucumber, eggplant, aspragus, watermelon, muskmelon, tomato, potato, ginger etc), medicinal plants (Rehmania, ginseng, Angelica etc), Fruit trees (Apple, Citrus spp., peach, tea, coffee etc) and forest trees (Chinese fir, Casuarina spp). This review discusses the (i). Problem of soil sickness in various crops, medicinal plants, forestry and horticultural trees in terrestrial cropping and hydroponics, (ii). Role of soil physico-chemical properties, allelopathic autotoxins and rhizosphere microflora, (iii). Mechanism of soil sickness and (iv). Suggest methods to overcome this problem.