Where can I get further information on biofertilizers?

You may visit the following Internet sites:
http://www.ikisan.com/links/up_riceBiofertilizers.shtml#top
http://www.entireindia.com/YellowPg/YpCatList.asp?s=1159&cnm=Biofertilizers
http://www.glsbiotech.com/products.htm#biofertilizers
http://www.us.erc.org/greenchannel/gc7/innovativebiotechnologicalproductsforagriculture.php www.suvash.com
http://www.kumarbuilders.com/bio.htm,

What precautions one should take for using biofertilizers?

• Biofertilizer packets need to be stored in cool and dry place away from direct sunlight and heat.
• Right combinations of biofertilizers have to be used.
• As Rhizobium is crop specific, one should use for the specified crop only.
• Other chemicals should not be mixed with the biofertilizers.
• While purchasing one should ensure that each packet is provided with necessary information like name of the product, name of the crop for which intended, name and address of the manufacturer, date of manufacture, date of expiry, batch number and instructions for use.
• The packet has to be used before its expiry, only for the specified crop and by the recommended method of application.
• Biofertilizers are live product and require care in the storage
• Both nitrogenous and phosphatic biofertilizers are to be used to get the best results.
• It is important to use biofertilizers along with chemical fertilizers and organic manures.
• Biofertilizers are not replacement of fertilizers but can supplement plant nutrient requirements.

What would be probable reasons for not getting response from the application of biofertilizers?

1. On account of quality of product
   • Use of ineffective strain.
   • Insufficient population of microorganisms.
   • High level of contaminants.
2. On account of inadequate storage facilities
• May have been exposed to high temperature.
• May have been stored in hostile conditions.
3. On account of usage
• Not used by recommended method in appropriate doses.
• Poor quality adhesive.
• Used with strong doses of plant protection chemicals.
4. On account of soil and environment
• High soil temperature or low soil moisture.
• Acidity or alkalinity in soil.
• Poor availability of phosphorous and molybdenum.
• Presence of high native population or presence of bacteriophages.

How could one get good response to biofertilizer application?

• Biofertilizer product must contain good effective strain in appropriate population and should be free from contaminating microorganisms.
• Select right combination of biofertilizers and use before expiry date.
• Use suggested method of application and apply at appropriate time as per the information provided on the label.
• For seed treatment adequate adhesive should be used for better results.
• For problematic soils use corrective methods like lime or gypsum pelleting of seeds or correction of soil pH by use of lime.
• Ensure the supply of phosphorus and other nutrients.

How biofertilizers are applied to crops?

1. Seed treatment:
   200 g of nitrogenous biofertilizer and 200 g of Phosphotika are suspended in 300-400 ml of water and mixed thoroughly. Ten kg seeds are treated with this paste and dried in shade. The treated seeds have to be sown as soon as possible.
2. Seedling root dip:
   For rice crop, a bed is made in the field and filled with water. Recommended biofertilizers are mixed in this water and the roots of seedlings are dipped for 8-10 hrs.
3. Soil treatment:
   4 kg each of the recommended biofertilizers are mixed in 200 kg of compost and kept overnight. This mixture is incorporated in the soil at the time of sowing or planting.

What biofertilizers are recommended for crops?

• Rhizobium + Phosphotika at 200 gm each per 10 kg of seed as seed treatment are recommended for pulses such as pigeonpea, green gram, black gram, cowpea etc, groundnut and soybean.
• Azotobacter + Phosphotika at 200 gm each per 10 kg of seed as seed treatment are useful for wheat, sorghum, maize, cotton, mustard etc.
• For transplanted rice, the recommendation is to dip the roots of seedlings for 8 to 10 hours in a solution of Azospirillum + Phosphotika at 5 kg each per ha.

What types of biofertilizers are available?

1. For Nitrogen
• Rhizobium for legume crops.
• Azotobacter/Azospirillum for non legume crops.
• Acetobacter for sugarcane only.
• Blue –Green Algae (BGA) and Azolla for low land paddy.
  
2. For Phosphorous
• Phosphatika for all crops to be applied with Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum and Acetobacter
3. For enriched compost
• Cellulolytic fungal culture
• Phosphotika and Azotobacter culture

Biofertilizer products

What are the advantages of bio-fertilizers?

1. Cost effective.
2. Suppliment to fertilizers.
3. Eco-friendly (Friendly with nature).
4. Reduces the costs towards fertilizers use, especially regarding nitrogen and phosphorus.

What are the benefits from using biofertilizers?

• Increase crop yield by 20-30%.
• Replace chemical nitrogen and phosphorus by 25%.
• Stimulate plant growth.
• Activate the soil biologically.
• Restore natural soil fertility.
• Provide protection against drought and some soil borne diseases.

Why should we use biofertilizers?

With the introduction of green revolution technologies the modern agriculture is getting more and more dependent upon the steady supply of synthetic inputs (mainly fertilizers), which are products of fossil fuel (coal+ petroleum). Adverse effects are being noticed due to the excessive and imbalanced use of these synthetic inputs. This situation has lead to identifying harmless inputs like biofertilizers. Use of such natural products like biofertilizers in crop cultivation will help in safeguarding the soil health and also the quality of crop products.

What is biofertilizer?

Biofertilizers are ready to use live formulates of such beneficial microorganisms which on application to seed, root or soil mobilize the availability of nutrients by their biological activity in particular, and help build up the micro-flora and in turn the soil health in general.

Biofertilizers

One of the major concerns in today's world is the pollution and contamination of soil. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has caused tremendous harm to the environment. An answer to this is the biofertilizer, an environmentally friendly fertilizer now used in most countries. Biofertilizers are organisms that enrich the nutrient quality of soil. The main sources of biofertilizers are bacteria, fungi, and cynobacteria (blue-green algae). The most striking relationship that these have with plants is symbiosis, in which the partners derive benefits from each other.

Plants have a number of relationships with fungi, bacteria, and algae, the most common of which are with mycorrhiza, rhizobium, and cyanophyceae. These are known to deliver a number of benefits including plant nutrition, disease resistance, and tolerance to adverse soil and climatic conditions. These techniques have proved to be successful biofertilizers that form a health relationship with the roots.

Biofertilizers will help solve such problems as increased salinity of the soil and chemical run-offs from the agricultural fields. Thus, biofertilizers are important if we are to ensure a healthy future for the generations to come.

Mycorrhiza

Mycorrhizae are a group of fungi that include a number of types based on the different structures formed inside or outside the root. These are specific fungi that match with a number of favourable parameters of the the host plant on which it grows. This includes soil type, the presence of particular chemicals in the soil types, and other conditions.

These fungi grow on the roots of these plants. In fact, seedlings that have mycorrhizal fungi growing on their roots survive better after transplantation and grow faster. The fungal symbiont gets shelter and food from the plant which, in turn, acquires an array of benefits such as better uptake of phosphorus, salinity and drought tolerance, maintenance of water balance, and overall increase in plant growth and development.

While selecting fungi, the right fungi have to be matched with the plant. There are specific fungi for vegetables, fodder crops, flowers, trees, etc.

Mycorrhizal fungi can increase the yield of a plot of land by 30%-40%. It can absorb phosphorus from the soil and pass it on to the plant. Mycorrhizal plants show higher tolerance to high soil temperatures, various soil- and root-borne pathogens, and heavy metal toxicity.

Legume-rhizobium relationship

Leguminous plants require high quantities of nitrogen compared to other plants. Nitrogen is
an inert gas and its uptake is possible only in fixed form, which is facilitated by the rhizobium
bacteria present in the nodules of the root system. The bacterium lives in the soil to form root
nodules (i.e. outgrowth on roots) in plants such as beans, gram, groundnut, and soybean.


Blue-green algae

Blue-green algae are considered the simplest, living autotrophic plants, i.e. organisms capable of building up food materials from inorganic matter. They are microscopic. Blue-green algae are widely distributed in the aquatic environment. Some of them are responsible for water blooms in stagnant water. They adapt to extreme weather conditions and are found in snow and in hot springs, where the water is 85 °C.

Certain blue-green algae live intimately with other organisms in a symbiotic relationship. Some are associated with the fungi in form of lichens. The ability of blue-green algae tophotosynthesize food and fix atmospheric nitrogen accounts for their symbiotic associations and also for their presence in paddy fields.

Blue-green algae are of immense economic value as they add organic matter to the soil and increase soil fertility. Barren alkaline lands in India have been reclaimed and made productive by inducing the proper growth of certain blue-green algae.

BIOFERTILIZERS

Nitrogenous fertilizers produced in industry by Haber-Bosch process consume high energy (about 13,500 K Cal/Kg N fixed). In such industries, fossil fuel is the source of energy. In recent years, due to Gulf crisis, the cost of crude oil increased about three fold within a year. Therefore, fossil fuel (oil and coal) based method of farming has become more expensive accordingly. To combat with this problem, however, it is necessary to develop an alternative method of supplying nutrients to plants.

In recent years, use of microbial inoculants as a source of biofertilizers has become a hope for most of countries, as far as economical and environmental view ponts are concerned. Biologically fixed nitrogen is such a source which can supply an adequate amount of nitrogen to plants and other nutrients to some extent. It is a non-hazardous way of fertilization of field. Moreover, biologically fixed nitrogen consumes about 25 percent to 30 percent less energy than normally done by chemical process.

Therefore, in developing countries like India, it can solve the problem of high cost of fertilizers and help in saving the economy of the country.

The term "Biofertilizers" denote all the "nutrient inputs of biological origin for plant growth" (Subba Rao, 1982). Here biological origin should be referred to as microbiological process synthesizing complex compounds and their further release into outer medium, to the close vicinity of plants roots which are again taken up by plants. Therefore, the appropriate term for biofertilizers should be "microbial inoculants" as suggested by Subba Rao (1982). As bacteria and cyanobacteria (also Frankia) are known to fix atmospheric nitrogen, both bacteria and cyanobacteria are widely used as biofertilizers.