In the recent years, the use of organic matter (OM) and microorganisms is increasing beyond organic agriculture, into conventional horticultural systems, in order to achieve high yields and quality through a more sustainable soil management. Thus, Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), that includes the use of diagnostic tools, high quality OM, microbial inoculants, highly-efficient fertilizer, and site-specific management in gaining space in intensive production systems.

Precision microbiology (PM) is a key concept to properly implement and evaluate INM programs. There are several reasons for PM to be used, among them: 1) once corrected the soil chemical and physical limiting factors, the biological properties are usually the ones that determine yield and quality; 2) there is a high variability of soil microorganisms and their activity; 3) responses to the application of organic and bioproducts are site-specific; 4) since the effects of the application of bioproducts are usually modest, compared to conventional crop inputs, they require more complex statistical analysis based on Precision Agriculture tools.