Microbial carriers for targeted delivery of agricultural payloads

1. A composition, comprising:

(a) an agriculturally suitable carrier;

(b) encysted or sporulated protozoa present in a formulation that is coated over the agriculturally suitable carrier; and

(c) an agricultural payload comprising agriculturally beneficial bacteria; wherein the agriculturally beneficial bacteria are dispersed within the formulation; wherein presence of the protozoa in the composition renders the composition capable of improving plant growth when the composition is administered to soil with an existing plant, or to soil where a plant or seed is to be planted.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the agriculturally suitable carrier is selected from the group consisting of seeds, seed coats, granular carriers, liquid slurry carriers, and liquid suspension carriers.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the agriculturally suitable carrier comprises a seed or seed coat.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the agriculturally suitable carrier comprises a granular carrier, liquid slurry carrier, or liquid suspension carrier.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the formulation comprises a biopolymer gel.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the formulation comprises a polymer and/or a bulking agent.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein a protozoa:bacteria ratio in the composition is between about 1:50 to about 1:10,000.

8. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising an outer shell enveloping the composition.

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the protozoa are selected from the group consisting of Acanthamoeba, Dictyostelium, Heteromita, Vahlkampfia, Stachyamoeba, Proleptomonas , Class COLPODEA, Thecamonas, Bodo, Neobodo, Dimastigella, Rhynchomonas, Ochromonas, Spumella, Tetrahymena, Euplotes, Blepharisma, Vorticella, Hartmannella, Phalansterium, Colpoda, Cercomonas, Phalansterium , and combinations thereof, and combinations thereof.

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the protozoa comprise protozoa selected from the group consisting of Colpoda sp., Cercomonas sp., and combinations thereof.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the agriculturally beneficial bacteria comprise bacteria selected from the group consisting of Rhizobiales, Psedomonadaceae, Bacillaceae, Rhososprillaceae, Psecomonadaceaea, Sinorhizobium species, Rhizobium species, Mesorhizobium species, Bradyrhizobium species, Bacillus species, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas putida, Azospirillum brasilense, Azotobacter vinelandii, Aeromonas veronii, Agrobacterium sp., Alcaligenes piechaudii, Comamonas acidovorans, Enterobacter cloacae, Rhizobium leguminosarum, Paenibacillus polymyxa, Methylobacterium fujisawaense, B. campestris Bacillus circulans DUC 1, B. firmus DUC 2, B. globisporus DUC 3, Alcaligenes sp. Bacillus pumilus, Pseudomonas sp., Variovorax paradoxus , Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas cepacia, L. Enterobacter sakazakii 8 MR 5, Pseudomonas sp. 4 MKS 8, Klebsiella oxytoca 10 MKR 7, L. Pseudomonas sp., Bacillus subtilis, Crocus sativus L, B. cereus, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Azospirillum sp. , Azoarcus sp., Azotobacter sp., Bacillus polymyxa, Burkholderia sp., Gluconacetobacter sp., Herbaspirillum sp., Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus pumilus SE 34, Streptomyces marcescens 90-116, Bacillus licheniformis, Paenibacillus polymyxa E 681, Enterobacter sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Sinorhizobium meliloti , and combinations thereof.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the agriculturally beneficial bacteria comprise Pseudomonas fluorescens or Sinorhizobium meliloti.

13. A method for improved plant growth, comprising delivering the composition of claim 1 to soil with an existing plant, or to soil where a plant or seed is to be planted.