Bio-fertilizers

INTRODUCTION
 Generally, agricultural land gets impoverished after long term
cultivation, if not supplemented properly with inputs.
 To supplement the soil nutrient content under conventional
farming system, we need to apply high doses of agrochemicals
which in turn pollute the ecosystem.
 Therefore, in order to make agriculture sustainable, it is
necessary to implement a balanced and responsible use of
organic agriculture.
 The principles of organic farming also outline the similar
concepts where the soil health and biodiversity is built up to
sustain the plant growth in longer term.

Ill-effects of Chemical Fertilizers:
• Leaching out
• Polluting water basins
• Destroying micro-organisms and friendly insects; making the crop
more susceptible to the attack of diseases
• Reducing the soil fertility and thus causing irreparable damage to the
overall system

What is Bio fertilizer?
Biofertilizers are natural fertilizers that are microbial inoculants of bacteria,
algae and fungi (separately or in combination).
which may help biological nitrogen fixation for the benefit of plants.
They help build up the soil micro-flora and there by the soil health.
Biofertilizer also include organic fertilizers(manure, etc.)
Use of bio-fertilizer is recommended for improving the soil fertility in organic
farming

1)For nitrogen
-Rhizobium for legumes crops
-Azotobacter/ Azospirilium for non legume crops
-Acetobacter for sugarcane only.
-Blue-Green Algae (BGA) and Azolla for low land paddy.
2)For phosphorus
-Phosphate solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) for all crops to be applied with Rhizobium,
Azotobacter, Azospirilium and Acetobacter
3)For enriched compost
-Phosphate solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) and Azotobacter culture
-Cellulolytic fungal culture
Types of Biofertilizer

Symbiotic nitrogen fixers.
Most important symbiotic Nitrogen fixing bacteria are
Rhizobium and Azospirillum.
Rhizobium:
 Rhizobium lives in the root hairs of the legumes by
forming nodules
 Plant root supply essential minerals and newly synthesized
substance to the bacteria
 The name Rhizobium was established by
Frank in 1889.

 A new classification has been established for Rhizobium.
 That is 'slow growing rhizobia' known as Bradyrhizobium
and the other group is 'fast growing rhizobia' called
Rhizobium.
Rhizobium

Azospirillum:
It is mainly present in cereal plants.
Inhabits both root cells as well as surrounding of roots
forming symbiotic relation and increasing nitrogen
fixing potential of the cereal plant.
Azospirillum -a dominant soil microbe.
Nitrogen is fixed in the range of 20- 40 kg/ha
Considerable quantity of nitrogen fertilizer up to 25-30% can be saved by the use
of Azospirillum inoculant.
These species are used as nitrogen supplying Bio-Fertilizers.

Free living bacteria
Large number of free living or non -symbiotic bacteria (does not form nodules but
makes association by living in the rhizosphere) present in soil.
Commonly used free living bacteria are
Azotobacter
Klebsiella
Azotobacter is a biofertilizer which provides the required amount of nitrogen to the
plant from the soil.

Azotobactor
Azotobactor is a heterotrophic free living nitrogen fixing bacteria present in
alkaline and neutral soils.
Azotobactor -most commonly occurring species in arable soils of India.
It can also synthesize growth promoting substances such as auxins and
gibberellins and also to some extent the vitamins.

Many strains of Azotobactor also exhibit fungicidal properties against certain
species of fungus.
Response of Azotobactor has been seen in rice, maize, cotton, sugarcane, pearl
millet, vegetable and some plantation crops.
It improves seed germination and plant growth.
Azotobacter is heaviest breathing organism and requires a large amount of organic
carbon for its growth.

Algae as a biofertilizer
Another group of free living nitrogen fixers are cyanobacteria.
Commonly called as Blue green algae.
Nitrogen fixation takes place in specialized cells called
‘Heterocyst’
BGA very common in rice field.
Unlike Azotobacter BGA are not inhibited by the presence of
chemical fertilizers.

They are easy to produce
Usually they are mass produced in cement tanks filled with
fresh water.
Not require any processing
Quite and cheap
Cost of 10kg may be Rs.30-40 only
Beneficial in certain crops like vegetables, cotton, sugarcane.
Eg. of some algal biofertilizers are
Anabena
Nostoc
Oscillatoria

Azolla is a tiny fresh water fern common in ponds, ditches and rice fields.
It has been used as a biofertilizer for a rice in all major rice growing
countries including India, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, Brazil and West
Africa.
The nitrogen fixing work is
accomplished by the symbiotic
relationship between the fern and BGA,
Anabena azollae.
In addition to nitrogen the decomposed
Azolla also provides K, P, Zn and Fe to the
crop
Azolla as a bio fertilizer

Azolla biomass gets doubled within 5-7 days by vegetative methods.
fix 40-80 kg nitrogen / ha / year.
good manure for flooded rice.
Increase of crop yield up to 15-20% has been observed while fertilizing the rice
with Azolla
Tolerant to heat and cold.

Products:
• Phospo: it release insoluble phosphorus in soil and fix this phosphorus in
clay minerals which is of great significance in agriculture.
• Rhizo: bacterial plays a very important role in agriculture by inducing
nitrogen fixings nodules on the root of legumes such as peas and alfafa.
• Azotobacter: fixes the atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and make it available
to the plants. It protects the root from other pathogens present in the soil.
• Trichoderma: it is a non pathogenic and eco-friendly product. The product
is antagonistic hyper parasitic against different pathogens in the field and
economically well established biocontrol agent.

• Composter: composter breaks down any organic matter such as dead plants
from yard waste, thereby increasing the soil productivity.
• Tricho-Card: Trichogramma is an efficient destroyer of eggs of many leaf and
flower eaters, stems, fruit, shoot. It can be used in a variety of crops such as
sugarcane, corn, vegetables, paddy and apple.
• Vermi Compost: it is 100% pure eco-friendly organic fertilizer. Has nitrogen
phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon, sulphur, hormones, vitamins,
enzymes and antibiotics which helps to improve the quality and quantity of
yield.

ADVANTAGES
• They form an important association with other soil microbes and help in nutrient supply.
• Fixes atmospheric nitrogen.
• Increase availability or uptake of nutrients through solubilization or increased absorption.
• Stimulate plant growth through hormonal or antibiotics action or by decomposing organic
waste.
• They are cheap, hence, reduced cost of cultivation.
• Improves soil properties and sustaining soil fertility Lead to soil enrichment.
• Decompose plant residues, and stabilize C:N ratio of soil
• Are compatible with long term sustainability.
• They are eco-friendly and pose no damage to the environment
• Renewable source of nutrients
• Replace 25-30% chemical fertilizers
• Increase the grain yields by 10-40%.
• Secrete fungistatic and antibiotic like substances

Disadvantages
• As such there is no harmful impact of biofertilizers if it is used properly
some constraints:
• The acceptability of biofertilizers has been rather low chiefly because
they do not produce quick and spectacular responses.
• Require skill in production and application.
• Biofertilizers require special care for long-term storage because they are
alive. Difficult to store.
• If other microorganisms contaminate the carrier medium or if growers
use the wrong strain, they are not as effective.
• Biofertilizers lose their effectiveness if the soil is too hot or dry.

BIOCOMPOST
• Eco friendly organic fertilizer
• Prepared from the sugar industry waste material
which is decomposed and enriched of various
plants and human friendly bacteria and fungi.
• Consists of nitrogen, phosphate solubilizing bacteria and various useful fungi
like decomposing fungi, Trichoderma viridea which protects the plants from
various soil borne disease.
• Increase soil fertility which results to a good quality products to the farmers.

Compost
• The aerobically decomposed remnants of organic matter. Used in landscaping,
agriculture as a soil conditioner and fertilizer.
• Useful for erosion control, wetland construction, and as landfill cover.
• Compost serves as a growing medium, or a porous, absorbent material that
holds moisture and soluble minerals, providing the support and nutrients.
• To maximize plant growth, it is sometimes necessary to:
• Dilute with soil or peat to reduce salinity or to add neutralizers (pH closer to 7).
• Additional nutrients like fertilizers or manure, and materials to improve drainage and
aeration, (sand or clay granules).

Types of Compost
• There are different ways to compost, starting with layers of ‘brown’ and
‘green’ biodegradable waste mixed with garden soil.
• ‘Brown’ waste- old straw, tough vegetable stems.
• ‘Green’ waste- biodegradable waste that breaks down faster, such as
fruit and cut flowers.
• There is also Vermicomposting, which uses worms to help break down
the organic waste.

EFFECTIVE MICROORGANISM
INDIGENOUS MICROORGANISM
• In ecology, an indigenous species is an organism which is native to a
given region or ecosystem.
•Contrast with introduced species (naturalized or exotic species) which is
an organism that is not indigenous to a given place, but has been
transported there as a result of human activity.
•Lactobacillus culture.

Types of EM
• Lactic acid bacteria: Lactobacillus plantarum; L.casei, Streptococcus lactis
• Photosynthetic bacteria: Rhodopseudomonas palustris, Rhodobacter
sphaeroides.
• Yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Candida utilis
• •Actinomycetes: Streptomyces albus; S. griseus
• •Fermenting fungi: Aspergillus oryzae; Mucor hiemalis

BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE OF EM IN
AGRICULTURE
• Promotes germination, flowering, fruiting and ripening in plants.
• Improves physical, chemical and biological environments of the soil
and suppresses soil borne pathogens and pests.
• Enhances the photosynthetic capacity of crops.
• Ensure better germination and plant establishment
• Increases the efficacy of OM as fertilizers.
• Develops resistance of plants to pests and disease.

Bio - fertilizers application methods
There are three ways of using these N-fixing/P.S.M. bacteria.
Seed treatment
Root dipping
Soil applications

Seed Treatment
Seed treatment is a most common method adopted for all
types of inoculant. The seed treatment is effective and
economic.
Seed treatment with Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum
along with P.S.M.
seed treatment can be done with any of two or more bacteria.
no side effect.
important things has the seeds must be coated first with
Rhizobium or Azotobacter or Azospirillum when each seeds
get a layer of above bacteria then the P.S.M. inoculant has to
be treated on outer layer of the seeds.

This method will provide maximum number of population of
each bacteria required for better results.
Mixing the any of two bacteria and the treatment of seed
will not provide maximum number of bacteria of individuals.

Root dipping
Application of Azospirillum with the paddy/vegetable plants
this method is needed.
The required quantity of Azospirillum has to be mixed with
5-10 ltr of water at one corner of the field and all the plants
have to kept for minimum ½ an hour before sowing .

Soil application
P.S.M. has to be used as a soil application use 2 kgs of
P.S.M. per acre. Mix P.S.M. with 400 to 600 kgs of Cowdung
along with ½ bag of rock phosphate if available. The mixture
of P.S.M., Cowdung and rock phosphate have to be kept
under any tree shade or celling for over night and maintain
50% moisture.
Use the mixture as a soil application in rows or during
leveling of soil.