Opportunities and challenges of managing the rhizosphere’s biota – for food intensification, through controlled application of fertilisers with commercial Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi Transdisciplinary perspective

Protecting the environment and halting the depletion of natural resources - while intensifying food yield to feed a growing global population, require alternatives to excessive application of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Interdisciplinary holistic research, complementary to discovery science, is needed to explore linkages between relevant, but different, knowledge domains and constituencies of crop production. This study explores the opportunities and challenges of managing the rhizosphere's biota through controlled application of fertilisers and mycorrhizal fungi, from a technical point of view linked to several environmental and socio - economic factors governing the agricultural system. It highlights the need for dynamic soil modelling and research, systematic food - wastage management and integrated farming approaches as potential strategies for sustainable intensification of food production. The role of earth worms as soil 'engineers', in relation to mycorrhizal fungi and the C-N equilibrium is also highlighted. A laboratory experiment was conducted over six weeks to examine plant growth and P availability in the rhizosphere, in the presence of mycorrhizal fungi and 2% worm cast. The treatment which received the combination of both organic fertilisers and conventional NPK application resulted in more than 137% fresh - weight enhancement, or 91% dry biomass enhancement in compared to the control. There was also as ignificant enhancement in P availability in the rhizosphere in the treatment with the P-efficiency capsule, specially designed for this experiment. Roots stained with Trypan Blue were examined microscopically to observe arbuscular ycorrhizal colonisation, and colonisation was found in all treatments, in more or less visible abundance. Data on social aspects of food production and soil nutrients were gathered from peer-reviewed literature, relevant popular Google searches, reliable media sources, popular YouTube educational videos, social media, and surveying 20 allotment-holders in the Edinburgh area. Data indicated an appreciation of legumes as a basic crop by 100% of allotment-holders surveyed, but less awareness of the value of biological inoculants such as mycorrhizal fungi, in efficient soil management. Overall, the dissertation stresses the importance of completing the food production loop production through managing nutrient flow in the rhizosphere component of soil ecosystems.