Microalgae as Biofertilizers: A Sustainable Way to Improve Soil Fertility and Plant Growth
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This review article, entitled "Microalgae as Biofertilizers: A Sustainable Way to Improve Soil Fertility and Plant Growth," is not publishable as it stands and needs significant revision.
The topic is interesting; however, the manuscript should be improved. Despite providing general information in the manuscript, the authors failed to provide supporting examples or an informative comparison between the methods, applications and reported observations presented in the manuscript. Further, there is no indication of the differences between this review paper and those previously published.
As a review paper, the manuscript requires greater in-depth discussion, and the citation of only 46 references, including several reviews, indicates that there is insufficient information to provide a comprehensive overview of microalgae's roles in crop production. A lack of references led to the absence of some valuable information in the manuscript.
There are no quantitative crop production parameters in the manuscript. A number of general statements were made by the authors, such as very expensive, very significant, expensive, and costly, without indicating any range of values. Examples, quantitative parameters, and references should be cited in support of named applications, advantages, and limitations.
I would suggest adding more information. The lack of data can be found in various parts of the manuscript, such as lines 126, 139, 140, 152, 225, 227, and so on.
To enhance your review paper, please revise the entire manuscript and add the necessary information. Please consider all parts of the document, some of which are highlighted.
Line 126, what do you mean by significant capacity? How much?
Line 129, what do you mean by enhancing plant growth? How much? I suggest adding more information.
Line 135, what do you mean by various biometric parameters?
Line 152, plant weight, how much?
Line 160, I suggest adding one table and bringing more examples.
Line 190, I suggest adding one table and summarizing the information.
Line 225, what do you mean very expensive?
Line 227, what do you mean by costly?
In the conclusion part, you mentioned the cost-effectiveness of biomass, however, you did not bring supporting examples in the manuscript.
Minor editing of English language required.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The review manuscript entitled “Microalgae as Biofertilizers: A Sustainable Way to Improve Soil Fertility and Plant Growth” is well written and structured work and an interesting topic for readers from various fields. However, some important topics should be added to this review. The following revisions need to be considered before publication:
General comment:
- Research articles, reviews, and book chapters of similar topics have been published. In your review, what is the novelty?
- The comparison between conventional fertilizers and microalgae biofertilizers should be discussed when considering microalgae as biofertilizers.
- Present an appropriate table with current references on increasing plant productivity using microalgae.
- There should be a presentation on the financial benefits of using microalgae fertilizer.
- When considering microalgae as a biofertilizer, it is very critical to discuss the following factors: nitrogen fixation, improving phosphorus availability, improving soil physical properties, reclamation of saline soil, and plant growth promoters.
- An overview of the cultivation (open or closed systems), harvesting, and biomass valorization of microalgae is needed for this review.
- Algae can remove heavy metals from soil, which could improve soil quality. To enrich the review, you may add a section about that.
- This review could include a section on the effects of chemical fertilizers on human health and the environment.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Review remarks on the review article entitled “Microalgae as Biofertilizers: A Sustainable Way to Improve Soil Fertility and Plant Growth submitted by Goncalves et al. to Sustainability. In the present article, authors discussed the role of microalgae as use of biofertilizer to enhance soil quality, growth and development of plants especially yield and quality in response to unfavorable environmental conditions.
Microalgae have been seen as a promising and sustainable alternative to agrochemicals, offering various benefits to enhance soil properties, optimize nutrient management, and decrease the reliance on organic fertilizers. It demonstrated efficient nutrient cycling abilities, assimilating and converting essential nutrients, i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, into forms readily available for plants. Future research advancements can lead to recent applications for overcoming hazardous environments in crop development with potential applications of biofertilizers for increasing plant development during adverse environmental conditions and era of climate change.
I found the present review article wrote very well thought through. It adequately describes every aspect from the problem background up to the conclusions. The present article can be acceptable for publication.
The authors summarized the sufficient information in the Tables
Figures presentations is very nice
Congratulations on writing such a fine piece.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Editor,
The authors addressed all the comments properly and the manuscript is ready to publish now.
Sincerely,
Ali Shirzadi
Reviewer 2 Report
Thanks for addressing all my comments.
Fair enough.
