Agriculture is facing enormous challenges worldwide due to global changes caused by human activities. Drought, severe weather events, record temperatures and emerging pathogens threaten the world's food supply. For this reason we need to make our crops more robust without further polluting the environment. Microbiome research and management offer great potential to achieve these goals. A new study by an international research group led by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), published in the scientific journal New Phytologist, opens up new perspectives here.