Abstract Description

The global community is currently grappling with critical, interconnected challenges, including water pollution, climate change, soil degradation, over-reliance on chemical agricultural inputs, and energy shortages (David et al., 2024; Vasantrao et al., 2025). This paper posits that Microbial Solutions—the application of advantageous fungi, bacteria, and archaea—are foundational to achieving sustainable development objectives, particularly in environmental management and agriculture (Adhikari et al., 2024; Verstraete et al., 2022). In agriculture, these solutions offer greener alternatives to conventional methods by deploying biofertilizers like Rhizobium and Azotobacter for natural nutrient cycling (Jehani et al., 2023; Khan et al., 2024), and biocontrol agents like Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and Trichoderma harzianum to reduce chemical pesticide usage (Cai and Dimopoulos, 2025; Druzhinina et al., 2011). Environmentally, microbes drive processes such as bioremediation, where organisms like Alcanivorax borkumensis and Phanerochaete chrysosporium degrade hydrocarbons and xenobiotic compounds (Alaidaroos, 2023; Das and Chandran, 2018), and bioenergy production, utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae for bioethanol and methanogens for biomethane (Akinsemolu et al., 2023; Atelge et al., 2020). Advances in Emerging Technologies, including CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and the development of specialized microbial consortia, are rapidly expanding the efficacy and application scope of these solutions (Hsu et al., 2014; Ray et al., 2020). However, challenges related to field-scale heterogeneity, cost, and biosafety regulation must be addressed (Brooks and Alper, 2021; Pei et al., 2020). Ultimately, through sustained investment in research and international collaboration, microbial solutions are positioned as an indispensable pillar for a resilient future, directly supporting key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2, 6, 7, and 13) (Mutambara, 2025; Ononogbo et al., 2024).