Success is often associated with a combination of inoculants possessing complementary beneficial traits e.g. biofertilizers that increase nutrient availability in the proximity of the roots together with a mycorrhizal fungus that enhances the root system and assists the plant to absorb the nutrients. It is not surprising that often indigenous microbes prove the most effective;
such microbes suit the environmental conditions in the cropping system for which they are intended. Nevertheless, indigenous microbes would still have to out-compete other microbes
for resources and, in the case of biocontrol agent, suppress pathogens.