harnessing the greenhouse microbiome: novel strategies to improve greenhouse crop productivity and resilience: a review

Greenhouse agriculture has become a cornerstone of modern horticulture, enabling year-round production, efficient resource use, and resilience to climate variability. globally, protected cultivation exceeds 500,000 hectares, achieving 15–30% higher yields than open-field systems. however, its sustainability is constrained by dependence on mineral fertilizers and pesticides, which degrade soil health and suppress beneficial microbial diversity. harnessing the greenhouse microbiome offers a transformative pathway to improve nutrient cycling, enhance plant growth, suppress pathogens, and strengthen tolerance to abiotic stresses. microbiome-based interventions such as biofertilizers, microbial stimulants, and biochar- or compost-enriched substrates can reduce fertilizer use by 20–40% while maintaining or increasing yield by 10–25%. this review synthesizes advances in microbial biotechnology and omics-based insights into plant–microbe interactions. it further discusses synthetic biology and host-mediated gene editing as tools to design resilient holobionts for controlled-environment systems. integration with precision agriculture, through ai, sensor networks, and digital twins, enables real-time monitoring and traceability of microbial products. overall, microbiome-driven greenhouse management can enhance productivity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and align profitability with sustainability goals, representing a key strategy for climate-smart and circular horticulture.