Abstract:People concern the ecological environment due to increasing shortage of land resources. The application of microbial fertilizers with natural soil microorganisms as the main component has attracted interests in farming on saline-alkali soil. This paper reviews the development and current status of microbial fertilizers worldwide. Moreover, we discuss the mechanisms how microbial fertilizers help plants resist salt stress and the effects on microbial communities in saline-alkali soils. We also propose two methods of immobilizing strains. These two methods can effectively solve the strains’ inactivation and prolong their action time in the soil. Finally, the problems and prospects of the current microbial fertilizers acting on saline-alkali soils are addresses.