Conclusions and future scenarios

Seed coating is a technique of covering seeds to improve plant establishment and growth, and protect plants against biotic (e.g., pests and diseases) and unfavorable environmental conditions (e.g., drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures), thus providing a secure environment for the next generations. Indeed, the seed coating process is a suitable technology in sustainable agriculture that has received attention today.
Several experimental underlines about microbial seed coating as a biotechnological reach to meliorate crop yield and quality against environmental stress. However, large-scale application and broader use of seed coating have been hindered by several parameters such as survival and viability of microorganisms, selection of the ingredient and accurate formulation, and production cost, which need to be identified by more studies. Also, it is considered that the advantages of microbial seed coating for its application in agriculture are not always assured since it varies with plant species, conditional growth, and experimental scale. However, nowadays using seed coating and efficient PBM strains in agricultural production can provide a commercial market.
The future of seed coating is dependent on formulations, which should be adjusted according to the local conditions and agriculture practices (such as the application of pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation management). Known PBM formulations obtained by native strains under local conditions need to be further explored. The efficient formulations improve not only the survival of PBM but also the growth and performance of plants. Considering climate changes, the performance of PBM demonstrates in reduction of biotic and abiotic stress. Therefore, the application of PBM in seed coating is promising, and it has great potential for agricultural practice in the future. PBM seed coating is an efficient tool for sustainable agriculture that needs more expansion and investiture to provide its widespread implementation and integration in agricultural management strategies.
Conflict of Interest : The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Funding: This work is carried out at the College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. SWU 020010), the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (No. cstc2021jcyj-msxmX0827) and Chongqing Returned Overseas Students’ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Support Program (No. cx2021001).
Author contribution statement: Arezoo Paravar, and Ramin Piriconceived of the presented idea and wrote the draft manuscript (specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation) and designed the figures and graphical abstract.Hamidreza Balouchi and Ying Ma . supervised the project and finalized the manuscript, and helped as an advisor the study revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content and check the manuscript grammatically.