A fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material that is added to a soil to supply essential plant nutrients for growth. Chemically synthesized inorganic fertilizers are widely used. Fertilizers enhance crop yield by 30-50% and provide micro and macronutrients to the exhausted soils.
Biofertilizers
Biofertilizer contains living microorganisms which, when applied to soil, colonizes the rhizosphere or the interior of the plant and promotes growth by increasing the availability of primary nutrients to the host plant.
 |
| Introduction to Biofertilizers (Cover) |
Biofertilizers contain living cells or latent cells of efficient strains of microorganisms. They are eco-friendly and cause no danger to the environment. These can also be called as "Live Fertilizer" and most commonly used in Organic Farming/Agriculture.
How Biofertilizer Work?
1. Enrich the soil with microorganisms to produce organic nutrients
2. Add nutrients through the natural processes like:
i. Nitrogen fixation.
ii. Solubilizing phosphorus.
iii. Synthesis of growth-promoting substances.
iv. Produce hormone and anti-metabolites to promote root growth.
3. Accelerate microbial processes which cause:
i. Soil augmentation/ Soil mineralization.
ii. Availability of easily assimilated plants nutrients.
History
1. 1,000 years before Moses - Akkadian Empire in the Mesopotamian Valley, compost was used by Romans in agriculture.
2. 300 BC- Biofertilizer concept - ancestors realized the importance of legume crops bearing nodules.
3. For centuries - the red water fern Azolla filiculoides has been utilized as a green manure for lowland rice in Vietnam and China.
4. 1895- Commercial history of biofertilizers began with the launch of ‘Nitragin’ by Nobbe and Hiltner.
Discovery of culture of Rhizobia, Azotobacter and blue green algae.
5. 1956 - First commercial production of legume Rhizobium symbiosis started.
6. Recent Discoveries - Azospirillum and Vesicular Arbuscular Micorrhizae (VAM) use.
Types of Biofertilizers
The various types of biofertilizers which help the plant to grow at different levels of its growth are:
1. Nitrogen Fixing Biofertilizers
2. Phosphate Biofertilizers
a. Phosphorous Solubilizing Biofertilizers
b. Phosphorus Mobilizing Biofertilizers
3. Biofertilizers for Micro-nutrients
4. Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria
5. Compost
------------------------------------------------------
Related Articles on Biofertilizers:
1) Classification of Biofertilizers
2) Status of Biofertilizers in Pakistan: Their Application Methods and Advantages
3) Phosphate Biofertilizers - Enhancing Soil Fertility
------------------------------------------------------
Post by: Saman Riaz (M.Phil Scholar-CEMB)
