Multifaceted Roles of Trichoderma in Sustainable Agriculture: Mechanisms, Applications, and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Modern agricultural practices have boosted crop yields but have also intensified pressure on the food system, along with environmental and health issues linked to overreliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, pesticide resistance, pollution, and human health hazards are the serious negative consequences imposed due to intensive agricultural practices, necessitating the shift towards biological agents to boost productivity and safeguard environmental and human health. Beneficial organisms, especially Trichoderma species, have emerged as effective beneficial fungi due to their versatile roles in sustainable agriculture for disease suppression through mycoparasitism, competition, production of secondary metabolites, and entomopathogenesis. In addition to pathogen suppression, Trichoderma spp. induce defence mechanisms in plants, produce growth hormones, mobilize unavailable nutrients, and increase nutrient uptake, making plants tolerant to biotic and abiotic stress and facilitating the bioremediation of toxic soil. However, problems related to strain specificity, field performance, environmental conditions and shelf-life stability limit its widespread adoption.  Future studies should focus on producing stress-tolorent and highly efficient strains, Trichoderma strains that can tolerate broader environmental conditions, exploring synergetic effects with other beneficial micro-organisms, and application methods. Overall, this review presents the versatile function of Trichoderma spp. in increasing crop yield and preventing negative consequences on environmental and human health, and also highlights challenges and the need for advance future studies.