Agricultural Fermentation: Mechanisms, Processes, and Sustainable Applications

BackgroundFermentation underpins many modern agricultural biotechnologies, from silage and feed preservation to the production of microbial inoculants, biofertilizers, and biocontrol solutions. As agriculture faces pressure to increase productivity while reducing inputs, losses, and environmental impacts, fermentation-based approaches offer scalable routes to stabilize biomass, improve nutrient availability, and steer microbial ecosystems toward beneficial outcomes. There is increasing demand for mechanistic, quantitatively grounded insight into how microbial communities and metabolic pathways drive fermentation outputs, plus methods that improve reproducibility, robustness, and scalability across variable raw materials, climates, and operating conditions. Key gaps remain in linking community structure to measurable performance, ensuring predictable outcomes across environments, and accelerating translation from lab-scale findings to farm-level impact and industrial production workflows. Advances in multi-omics, strain and consortium design, and in-line bioprocess monitoring now enable more consistent, controllable agricultural fermentations. In parallel, genomics- and bioinformatics-enabled precision strain selection, predictive computational platforms, and regulatory-aligned development pathways, are supporting innovation and adoption of fermentation-based agricultural inputs.GoalThis Research Topic consolidates application-oriented advances in agricultural fermentation, emphasizing mechanistic depth, process control, and industrially relevant reproducibility and scale-up. By bringing together researchers across microbiology, bioprocess engineering, animal science, agronomy, and systems biology, the collection will clarify how fermentation can be optimized to improve feed quality, soil health, crop productivity, and sustainability outcomes (including progress toward SDG 2 and SDG 12). The Topic also welcomes work that strengthens innovation-to-impact pipelines via precision strain selection, predictive bioinformatics for robust performance across environments, and regulatory-aligned approaches supporting safe, compliant development of fermentation-based agricultural inputs (e.g., inoculants, feed additives, and biocontrol agents).ScopeSubmissions are encouraged on the following themes:• Silage fermentation: microbial ecology, inoculants, additive strategies, spoilage control, mycotoxin risk reduction, predictive and omics-driven approaches• Ruminant microbiology and functional fermentation outcomes, including links to productivity, methane mitigation, and animal health• Fermentation-enabled microbial inoculants (design, stabilization, scale-up, formulation, shelf-life) for crops and aquaculture, including batch-to-batch consistency• Biofertilizers and biostimulants produced via microbial fermentation, including process optimization, mode-of-action evidence, and quality attributes linked to efficacy• Fermentation approaches for biopesticides and biocontrol, including production workflows, formulation, and field performance across environments• Engineered or synthetic microbiomes for fermented agricultural systems (e.g., silage, rhizosphere amendments), including stability and controllability• Fermentation-based valorization of agricultural residues into high-value agricultural inputs (clear agricultural relevance required)• Process monitoring, control, scalability, and reproducibility: metagenomics, metabolomics, systems modeling, digital twins, and QA/QC strategies for industrial fermentation• Precision microbial strain selection for nutritional enhancement: genomics and bioinformatics to identify and prioritize strains (bacteria, yeasts, filamentous fungi) with superior fermentation traits• Regulatory-aligned development of fermentation-based agricultural inputs: regulatory intelligence supporting compliant development and deployment (e.g., inoculants, feed additives, biocontrol agents)• Predictive bioinformatics platforms for fermentation performance: data-driven methods to predict strain and consortium performance, robustness, and reproducibility in defined systems Topic editors: Kevin Panke-Buisse, Francesco Rubino, Brijmohan Singh Bhau, DIBYENDU MONDAL Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77997/agricultural-fermentation-mechanisms-processes-and-sustainable-applications