Growers' attitudes towards and experiences of the soil microbiome and soil inoculants in the UK: key insights for a developing research field

The soil microbiome provides many functions that play an important part in food production. Microbial inoculants are one method of directly boosting specific functions by introducing key microbes, for instance rhizobia—the nitrogen-fixing partners of legumes. However, the use of inoculants is quite variable amongst food growers. Previous research suggests this is largely due to inconsistent results of trials, but such studies typically only focus on growers' experiences at the ‘end of the research and development pipeline’, i.e., after the inoculants have been developed, packaged and sold on the market. In contrast, this paper investigates how growers' understandings and experiences can be used to shape microbial inoculant research and development. Incorporating insights about grower approaches to, and knowledge of soil microbes is vital for understanding attitudes to inoculation, and should ultimately inform future product development. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 28 UK legume growers (large-scale to medium-scale arable, organic, and dairy farmers, and urban growers i.e., small-scale home gardeners and allotment holders) to understand the different attitudes of participants towards the soil microbiome and soil inoculants. In addition, we also highlight the motivations, practices and assessment techniques that growers use in line with their attitudes as actions towards the soil and explicitly, the soil microbiome. We find that growers have a deep connection to their soil ecology and actively invest their efforts in supporting it through diverse, sometimes creative methods. Interest in inoculants is limited however, with participants overall favouring home-grown approaches to supporting their soil microbiome.