Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, 2026 (ESCI)
Declining soil quality coupled with climate change and growing population requires eco-friendly inputs in agricultural production to meet food demand. Synthetic agrochemicals usage to ensure food security, further degrades soil quality, amplifying climate change effect. This study investigated potential of commercial biostimulants (ekofertile (R) plant and microfertile (R) plant), consisting of nutrients, organic acids and beneficial microbes in enhancing soil quality, biological indicators and wheat productivity. The study was setup in a split-plot design consisting of two plant biostimulants (ekofertile (R) plant and microfertile (R) plant) and five treatments (control, inorganic fertilization, 2.5%, 5% and 10% biostimulant dosages), triplicated in the greenhouse. Soil physicochemical and biological indicators, wheat growth and yield data was collected and analysed using R-programming and analytical hierarchy process. Treatment levels showed significant differences for soil physicochemical properties with the best effect at 10% dosage, similar trend was observed for soil biological indicators. ekofertile (R) plant and microfertile (R) plant and factor interactions showed no significant differences in soil quality index (SQI) but SQI was significantly modulated by the treatment with best effect at 5% dosage (0.65). At 10% dosage, wheat yield (24.46 tha(-1)) and grain weight per plant (2.1 g) were significantly improved. A positive correlation (r = 0.71) existed between wheat grain weight and potassium (K), organic carbon (OC) (r = 0.72), phosphorus (P) (r = 0.59), nitrogen (N) (r = 0.58) and SQI (r = 0.68). OC correlated with SQI (r = 0.91) while microbial biomass carbon correlated with SQI (r = 0.77). Results revealed that ekofertile (R) plant and microfertile (R) plant biostimulants are great sustainable alternatives to inorganic fertilization with soil quality and crop productivity enhancement potentials.