Content: The course provides the students with soil microbes, their role in soil-plant environment and mineral transformation. The course also exposes the students to the effects of soil microflora on soil fertility and plant nutrition, role of microbes in soil formation and nitrogen fixation, and mineralization-immobilization turnover.

Objective: To introduce students to soil microbes and their role in soil-plant environment

Reading materials

1. Alexander, M. 1976. Introduction to Soil Microbiology. 2nd Edn. John Wiley & Sons
2. Domsch, K.H and Gams, W. 1973. Fungi in Agricultural Soils. Academic press, New York.
3. Killham, K. 1994. Soil Ecology. Cambridge Univ. Press.
4. Paul, E. A. (2014). Soil microbiology, Ecology and Biochemistry. Academic press.