Bioremediation of hydrocarbon-polluted soils for improved crop performance

Soil pollution arising from increasing demand for petroleum and its products has become a common problem in recent years. Soils polluted with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) differ from unpolluted soils and are not able to support adequate crop growth and development. There is need to treat these soils so as to satisfy the food requirement of the ever increasing world population. Bioremediation is a cost-effective method of soil remediation which uses organisms for the treatment of polluted soils. It has been used across the globe for the treatment of a wide range of organic soil pollutants. In this paper the different approaches to bioremediation of PHC-polluted soil have been discussed. It is evident that the combined use of both microorganisms and phytoremediators improves the efficiency of bioremediation. More research on the interactions between the remediating organisms and the environment is needed for better understanding of this approach to bioremediation.