Farmland often harbors a multitude of pathogens which attack plants and reduce yields. A Swiss research team has now shown that inoculating the soil with mycorrhizal fungi can help maintain or even improve yields without using additional fertilizers or pesticides. In a large-scale field trial, plant yield increased by up to 40%.
This is roughly in line with how robust plant ecosystems tend to function. Fungal-plant symbiosis is very common, so common that is seems to be frequently advantageous overall.