Problem Statement:
“Algae is not just confined to waterbodies
anymore. "Twenty percent of the microbial biomass in natural, healthy soil
is algae, but many farmers only monitor and maintain bacteria and fungi."
said, group of researchers. The study aims to highlight the importance of soil
algae that can be beneficial for farmers to increase the fertility of the soil
for productivity rather than traditional agricultural practices. So, that algae
cultures help farms to improve the health of the soil and increase production.”
INTRODUCTION
Soil algae live
on the surface of the soil. There are 2000 species of microscopic soil algae
are known as blue-green, green, yellow-green, and diatom algae. Some blue-green
algae fix atmospheric nitrogen.
SIGNIFICANCE OF
ALGAE
The major roles
and functions of algae in soil are that
·
It maintains the soil fertility, especially in tropical
soils, adds organic matter to the soil when they die, and thereby reducing and
preventing soil erosion.
·
Algae fix nitrogen, improve soil fertility, and play a significant
role in plant succession.
·
It is also found that algae present on soil increase
organic matter, nitrogen and stabilizes it. This promotes the germination of
seeds and the growth of other microorganisms.
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| Algal Bloom in an Agricultural Field |
CULTURE IN LAB
& OUTDOOR
In the
laboratory, the cells and some spores of algae that do not divide actively in
soil are favored by the higher calcium carbonate content, pH, and the medium of
fluid culture. After a few days, those forms which first predominated tend to
disappear, being replaced by others, generally more common and less fragile.
The production of
outdoor algal ponds is inexpensive as compared to the laboratory method.
Algal-grade fertilizer is used as a nutrient medium source instead of
laboratory-grade reagents. In the recent era, there is a large scale of
microalgae biomass production at the commercial level.
SIGNIFICANCE OF ALGAE
FOR PAKINSTAN AGRICULTURE
As we all know
that Pakistan is a developing country, and it depends upon agriculture. It
consumes a very large amount of nitrogen per unit area. So that the use of
nitrogen fertilizers is increasing day by day.
In Pakistan, rice
is grown in many areas of Punjab and Sindh and it is the second staple food
source. Some current practices of algal cultures are BGA that synthesize and liberate
the amount of auxin and amino compounds that help to stimulate plant growth,
used in rice crops. Moreover, in BGA the amount of nitrogen is fixed under
field conditions ranges gram 15-80kg/ha and it is according to the algal
species, fertilization, soil and, environmental conditions.
COMMUNITY
SUCCESSION
Algae play an
important role in community succession by increasing biodiversity in soil. At
early succession, the biomass of microalgae increased in soil but decreased at
a later stage, due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and vascular plants.
Algae with a high reproduction rate can produce a large amount of biomass and
cultivation systems play an important role in it.
COST EFFICIENT
Open pond production
systems are cost-efficient and require less maintenance than bioreactors for
algal biomass production. Microalgae generate more biomass in less time. They
can grow on low economic value lands and utilize more carbon dioxide and
nitrogen while crops require fertilizers, for biomass generation and utilize
less carbon and nitrogen from the environment. Algal growth increases the
carbon and nitrogen input in soil.
GREEN MANURE
Nitrogen-fixing
blue-green algae play role in the nitrogen accumulation of soil. They grow
commonly in paddy fields and tropical regions. It is vigorously used as green
manure in rice fields for favorable effects. Soil algae such as blue-green
algae or Cyanobacteria produce 20 to 30 kg N ha −1 season −1 and organic matter
to soil, which is useful for economically weak farmers who cannot invest in
expensive chemical nitrogen fertilizer. Thus, algal cultivation is much favored
over traditional agricultural practices.
SOURCE OF BIOFUEL
In Pakistan, microalgal
biomass is used as biodiesel in different areas of the country. The first
attempt to produce biodiesel from algal biomass in Pakistan was carried out by
Khola et al., Pakistan possesses plentiful algal flora because of rich
saline habitats and diverse water. Yet, it is not used as a bio stimulant or
biofertilizer for increasing the productivity of crops in Pakistan. Algal bloom
production is widespread in different areas of the country due to solar
illumination and suitable temperature. Because geographically, Pakistan lies in
the world's utmost solar insulation area due to favorable climatic conditions
which is suitable for algal growth. So, these conditions suggest that
cultivation of algal biomass is possible in Pakistan and as biofertilizers to
increase the productivity of crops in Pakistan.
CONDUCIVE IN ENVIRONMENTAL
CONDITIONS
Soil conditioners
are chemically biologically prepared substances that are used for soil
nourishment which helps in the growth of different plants. They are somehow
different from soil fertilizers. Because fertilizers supply nutrients only and
soil conditioners enhance the health of soil physically, chemically, and
biologically. Algal soil conditioners increase water holding capacity,
aeration, and nutrient availability to the soil which improve texture and soil
quality to support vegetation. They are effective as they improved soil
property and soil growth (Rehman et al., 2015).
BIOSTIMULANTS
& BIO-FERTILIZERS
Pesticides,
insecticides, and herbicides influence the growth of soil algae. The influence
can be variable with inhibition and stimulation of growth or no effect on
growth. Microalgae have bio-stimulant and biofertilizer properties which
attract agrochemical industries. Microbial bio stimulants and microbial
biofertilizers increase agriculture sustainability in crop production. They are
cost-effective alternatives to fertilizers and environment-friendly, plant
growth regulators and crop production products. Bio stimulants are derived from
organic materials that enhance the growth and development of many crops under
stressful and optimal conditions. Biofertilizers contain living organisms that
stimulate the growth of a plant, improve chemical and biological soil
properties, and restoring soil fertility through natural substances that are
present in them. Microalgae extracts have greater importance in crop production
than MBS and MBF. Now, agrochemical companies using microbial extracts in the
formulation of innovative MBF and MBS.
These extracts have beneficial effects like increased nutrient uptake, induced
tolerance to the abiotic stresses, and improve crop yield and quality.
CONCLUSION
Soil algae play an important role in enhancing the fertility of the soil. It is also beneficial for farmers for increasing productivity as well as cost-efficient. Soil algae can convert environmental nitrogen into useable nitrogen. It eliminates the cost of nitrogen fertilizers by farmers, for agricultural use. Addition of algae in the soil increase biodiversity, organic mass, and the total amount of humus in the soil. All these things are needed by farmers to produce healthy soil.
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This article has
been shared by the following authors to PAKAGRIFARMING.
Authors: Samreen Tariq, Areej Ashfaq and, Ayesha Asif
Authors’ Affiliation: Capital University of Science and Technology
