Metagenomic bacterial profiling data of soil before and after intercropping with Sesbania grandiflora in oil palm tree plantation.

The research was driven by the hypothesis that introducing the nitrogen-fixing legume Sesbania grandiflora as an intercrop within oil palm plantations would enhance soil microbial diversity and community dynamics, thereby improving soil fertility and offering a sustainable strategy to offset the cost of chemical fertilizers. The dataset comprises metagenomic bacterial profiling of soil samples collected in nine plots in Bukit Pelanduk, Malaysia, sampled before (September) and after (December), which were monocropped (serves as control) and intercropped with sesbania (serves as treatment). A notable finding was the significant increase in species richness, which grew from 1,939 species in the pre-trial soil (September) to 2,458 species post-treatment, with the microbial community dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes. To analyse the bacterial profiling, 16s RNA bacterial profiling through MinION Nanopore was used. The raw data obtained went through a series of bioinformatics analyses that encompassed data quality control, metagenome assembly, and taxonomy annotation. This data is interpreted as strong evidence of the beneficial effect of S. grandiflora intercropping on soil health, demonstrating a functionally diverse microbiome to validate sustainable agricultural techniques.