by jessica (biofertilizer forums)
Biofertilizer is one of the best modern tools for
agriculture. It is a gift of our modern agricultural science. Biofertilizers
are applied in the agricultural field as a replacement to our conventional
fertilizers. Conventional fertilizers contain compost; household wastes and
green manure. Those are not as effective as chemical fertilizers. So farmers
often try to use chemical fertilizers in the field for crop development. But
obviously the chemical fertilizers are not environment friendly. They are
responsible for water, air and soil pollution and can spread cancer causing
agents. Moreover, they may destroy the fertility of the soil in a long run.
Scientists have developed Biofertilizers to prevent pollution and to make this
world healthy for everybody in a natural way.
Biofertilizer contains microorganisms which promote the
adequate supply of nutrients to the host plants and ensure their proper development
of growth and regulation in their physiology. Living microorganisms are used in
the preparation of Biofertilizers. Only those microorganisms are used which
have specific functions to enhance plant growth and reproduction.
There are different types of microorganisms which are used
in the biofertilizers. Some are capable of nitrogen fixation such as
Azotobacter, Blue green algae Rhizobium and Azospirillum. Rhizobium is used to
increase the capacity of nitrogen fixation in the leguminous plants. Azotobacter
are used as Biofertilizers for the development of various vegetable plants such
as mustard, maize, Wheat, cotton etc. Azospirillum is applied in the millets,
sorghum, sugarcane, maize and wheat field. Nostoc, Tolypothrix, Anabaena, and
Aulosira are known as blue green algae. Anabaena and Azolla fix atmospheric
nitrogen and enrich the soil fertility.
Phosphate solublizing bacteria are also developed as
Biofertilizers. Pseudomonas putida, Pantoea agglomerans strain P5 etc. are the
examples of phosphate solublizing bacteria. Their major work is to solubilize
phosphates from any sources of organic and inorganic both. Those phosphates are
taken as nutrients by plants.
Microorganism converts complex nutrients into simple
nutrients for the availability of the plants. Biofertilizer containing those
microorganisms can play a great role in crop improvement. Crop yield can be
increased by 20-30% if Biofertilizers are used properly. Biofertilizers can
also protect plants from soil born diseases to a certain degree.
Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (VAM) fungi is often used
as Biofertilizer. It is widely found in both aquatic and desert soil
environments. VAM provides significant amount of nutrients to the plants such
as copper, zinc, phosphorus and sulphur by making their widely extended hyphal
network on the upper or lower side of the soil layer. VAM is commercially used
in the fields of India.
Microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi algae etc. are
commercially prepared as Biofertilizers. Those Biofertilizers are feasible and
reliable for almost every crop field considering their costs and Eco
friendliness rather than chemical fertilizers.