Biofertilizers

Introduction:

Biologically active products or microbial inoculants of bacteria, algae and fungi either separately or in combination, which may enhance the availability of nutrients for the benefit of plants are called biofertilizers. They also include organic fertilizers like manures which are converted to a readily available form due to interaction of microorganisms or their association with plants.

Biofertilizer is a substance which contains living microorganisms which, when applied to seed, plant surfaces, or soil, colonizes the rhizosphere or the interior of the plant and promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant.

How biofertilizers act:

Biofertilizers add nutrients through the natural processes of fixing atmospheric nitrogen, solubilizing phosphorus, and stimulating plant growth through the synthesis of growth promoting substances. Biofertilizers can be expected to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The microorganisms in biofertilizers restore the soil's natural nutrient cycle and build soil organic matter. Through the use of biofertilizers, healthy plants can be grown while enhancing the sustainability and the health of soil. Commonly used biofertilizers are bacterial, bluegreen algae, fungal

Advantages:

  • They are environment friendly
  • They are comparatively low on cost inputs and are light on the pockets of the farmers
  • Their use leads to soil enrichment and the quality of the soil improves with time
  • Though they do not show immediate results, the results shown over time are extremely spectacular
  • Microorganisms convert complex organic materail into simple compounds, so that the plant can easily take up the nutrients
  • These fertilizers harness atmospheric nitrogen and make it directly available to the plants
  • They increase the phosphorous content of the soil by solubilising and releasing unavailable phosphorous
  • Bio-fertilizers improve root proliferation due to the release of growth promoting hormones
  • They help in increasing the crop yield by 10-25%

Disadvantages:

  • Storage is difficult.
  • Time consuming
  • Short shelf life
  • susceptibility to high temperature
  • problems in transportation

Companies:

Some of the companies that produce biofertilizers are

  • Qatar fertilizing company,
  • Fauji fertilizer company,
  • Bacto agro culture care pvt ltd

Types of biofertilizers:

Research and development:

  1. Different biofertilizers like Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Pseudomonas and Bacillus as co-cultured multiple inoculants can interact with plants and act as effective biofertilizers. 
  2. Microbial conversion of food wastes for biofertilizer production with thermophilic lipolytic microbes
  3. Food waste in Taiwan was mixed with bulking materials, inoculated with thermophilic and lipolytic microbes and incubated at 50 °C in a mechanical composter. Microbial inoculation enhanced the degradation of food wastes, increased the total nitrogen and the germination rate and improved the quality of biofertilizer.
  4. Several Vietnamese seaweed species have economic importance as food for humans, as industrial materials, as ingredients in traditional medicine, and as biofertilizers. All the species studied are rich in proteins, lipids (especially polyunsaturated fatty acids), vitamins, pigments, and macro- and micro-elements. The results indicate that Vietnamese seaweeds are abundant and have high quality materials for industrial and agricultural purposes.