Biofertilizers are microorganisms such as fungi, algae, and bacteria that make plants grow faster by giving important nutrients. These friendly microorganisms control the amount of important nutrients the plant gets, promoting its growth.
Additionally, Biofertilizers provide nutrients to plants through fixing nitrogen, making phosphorus available, and producing growth-promoting chemicals. They play a role in bringing back the natural nutrient balance in the soil and increasing its organic matter. Unlike chemical fertilisers, biofertilizers are friendly to the environment. Choosing biofertilizers is a good idea because they make plants healthy without harming nature, making them a simple and natural choice for a better garden.
Now that you know what is biofertilizer, let’s learn more about the benefits, importance of biofertilizer and application in the blog below:
Importance Of BioFertlizers
Biofertilizers are essential for eco-friendly and sustainable farming. They help crops grow better, even in tough conditions, and improve soil health. By fighting harmful pathogens and providing vital nutrients, biofertilizers ensure higher yields. Farmers can make them locally, promoting self-reliance, and their use avoids pollution. In simple terms, biofertilizers are a key player in sustainable agriculture, making farming better for the environment and more productive.
Types Of BioFertilizer
Numerous varieties are available for biofertilizers, such as Acetobacter, Azospirillum, blue-green algae, Bio NPK, and others. Each type, such as Rhizobium, serves specific crops with distinct characteristics, contributing to their growth. These diverse living organism-based bacteria play an important role in enhancing soil fertility and supporting various crops. Read in detail below:
Also Read – The Agricultural Aspects of Cover Crops
Bio NPK
BIO-NPK LIQUID has a lot of microorganisms that help plants with nitrogen fixation , releasing phosphate, and moving potash in the soil. This balanced nutrition boosts plant health crop yield and cuts down on the need for chemical additives, saving money.
It also helps plants grow faster, take in more nutrients from the soil, and become better at handling diseases and lack of water. In simple terms, it’s like a natural helper for plants that makes them strong and helps farmers save on extra costs.
Blue Green Algae
Blue-green algae are often called rice organisms because they’re commonly found in rice fields. In tropical conditions, various species like Tolypothrix, Nostic, Schizothrix, Calothrix, Anoboenosois, and Plectonema are abundant. These algae, also known as cyanobacteria, are good at fixing nitrogen.
They come in filamentous forms, forming chains of cells, including special ones called heterocysts. These heterocysts act like tiny factories for making and fixing nitrogen. Special cells in blue-green algae are important for adding nitrogen to the soil, especially in tropical areas like rice fields. This makes them valuable as algal biofertilizers.
Acetobacter
Acetobacter, a Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria utilised in biofertilizers, plays a crucial role, especially in cultivating sugar-producing crops. This beneficial bacterium forms colonies within the tissues of crops, ensuring a steady supply of essential nitrogen.
Beyond nitrogen fixation, Acetobacter contributes to plant health by generating growth hormones that foster the development of both roots and shoots. This, in turn, enhances the plant’s ability to absorb minerals and water, resulting in overall improved plant growth.
Azospirillum
One useful kind of biofertilizer that fixes nitrogen for plants is called Azospirillum. Not only that, but it also generates beneficial compounds such as growth hormones and vitamins. Using Azospirillum has some great advantages for plants. It boosts plant growth, helps in fixing nitrogen, improves germination, and supports better root development. So, it’s like a plant-friendly helper that makes crops grow better and healthier.
Rhizobium
Rhizobium is a highly effective and widely used bacterial biofertilizer, especially when working with legumes. It has a remarkable ability to capture nitrogen from the air, benefiting legumes in a process called nitrogen fixation. When legumes and Rhizobium team up, they form special homes called root nodules, where nitrogen is fixed.
The success of this partnership depends on having the right Rhizobium strain for a specific legume. The number of Rhizobium in the soil depends on the presence of legume crops; without them, the Rhizobium population decreases. So, Rhizobium serves as a natural partner for legumes, helping in nitrogen fixation and enhancing plant growth.
Components Of Biofertilizers : Know About The Preparation Of Biofertilizers
There is an important role of biofertilizers in improving soil health. Biofertilizers consist of various components, each contributing to plant growth in an eco-friendly way:
1. Bio Compost: Produced from sugar industry waste, it contains bacteria, fungi, and plants, promoting sustainable plant growth.
2. Tricho-Card: An eco-friendly product that acts as a beneficial destroyer against harmful elements, supporting the health of various crops and plants.
3. Azotobacter: Facilitates atmospheric nitrogen fixation and protects plant roots from soil pathogens, aiding in nutrient absorption.
4. Phosphorus: Essential for determining nitrogen levels in the soil and regulating plant nitrogen requirements.
5. Vermicompost: Highly eco-friendly, it rapidly enhances soil fertility with vital components like vitamins, sulphur, hormones, organic carbon, and antibiotics crucial for plant growth.
Classification Of Biofertilizers According To Crops
| Crops | Seed Treatment Recommendation |
| Pulses (pigeonpea, green gram, black gram, cowpea, etc.)
Groundnut Soybean |
Rhizobium + Phosphotika at 200 gm each per 10 kg of seed |
| Wheat
Sorghum Maize Cotton Mustard |
Azotobacter + Phosphotika at 200 gm each per 10 kg of seed |
| Transplanted Rice | Dip seedling roots for 8 to 10 hours in Azospirillum + Phosphotika solution at 5 kg each per ha |
Applications Of Biofertilizers To Crops
Also Read – Types Of Soil In India And Their Uses For Different Crops
There are many uses of Biofertilizers that make them an essential part of modern agriculture. Learn more about the advantages of biofertilizers with their uses below:
- Soil Treatment: Biofertilizers restore the soil’s original fertility. Mix them with compost fertilizer, keep the mixture overnight, and then spread it in the soil where seeds are to be sown.
- Seed Treatment: Use organic fertilizers to treat seeds. Soak seeds in a mix of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, let them dry quickly and harden.
- Important Types: Biofertilizers are widely used in crops, including nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers.
- Need of the Hour: Biofertilizers are stable, reliable, and environmentally friendly. They are crucial for sustainable agriculture.
Advantages Of Biofertilizers
Biofertilizers enhance soil quality, safeguard plants, maintain environmental purity, and eliminate toxic materials from the soil. See below for further information on the advantages of biofertilizers:
- Better Soil, Better Plants: They make the soil better and help plants grow more.
- Fight Against Infections: Biofertilizers prevent plant infections from spreading.
- Eco-Friendly and Affordable: These fertilizers are good for the environment and don’t cost a lot.
- Fight against diseases: They get rid of harmful substances that can make plants sick.
- Work in Tough Conditions: Even in not-so-great conditions, like semi-arid areas, biofertilizers do a good job.
- Nitrogen Boost: They take nitrogen from the air and give it to plants, helping them grow.
- Unlocking Phosphates: They make hard-to-use phosphates in the soil easy for plants to use.
- Phosphate Cleanup: Biofertilizers clear away extra phosphates from the soil.
- Organic Recycling: They break down old plant material and turn it into nutrients in the soil.
- More Yield, No Harm: Using biofertilizers makes plants produce more crops without hurting the soil or the environment.
Disadvantages of Biofertilizers
Biofertilizers have limitations despite their eco-friendly nature. Understanding their disadvantages alongside the significance of biofertilizers is important for effective agricultural practices. Learn more about them below:
- Not a Full Substitute: Biofertilizers don’t replace chemical fertilizers but work alongside them.
- Limited Productivity Boost: While chemical fertilizers can significantly improve productivity, biofertilizers only enhance crop yield by 20 to 30 percent.
- Crop-Specific Needs: Different crops require specific fertilizers, especially those involving microorganisms in a symbiotic relationship. Using the wrong one may not improve crop production.
- Contamination Challenges: Making microbial fertilizers requires strict cleanliness measures to avoid contamination during production.
- Sensitivity to Light: Microbes as biofertilizers can be harmed when exposed to sunlight for too long as they are sensitive to light.
- Limited Shelf Life: Microbial fertilizers need to be used within six months at room temperature and two years at chilling temperatures.
Conclusion :
Biofertilizers, like friendly microorganisms in soil, help plants grow better by providing essential nutrients. They contribute to soil health, promote plant growth, and are eco-friendly. Biofertilizers offer benefits such as better soil, disease prevention, affordability, and increased crop yield.
Types like Bio NPK, Acetobacter, Azospirillum, and Rhizobium serve specific crops, enhancing soil fertility. However, they are not a full substitute for chemical fertilizers, provide a limited productivity boost, and require careful handling due to contamination challenges. Despite these limitations, biofertilizers play a crucial role in sustainable agriculture, promoting healthier plants and a cleaner environment.
FAQ Biofertilizers: Types of Biofertilizers, Components and Importance
Q1. What are biofertilizers and their types?
Ans. Biofertilizers contain microorganisms that help in boosting soil fertility and promote plant growth. The types of biofertilizers are Azotobacter, Azospirilium, Rhizobium and Phosphobacteria.
Q2. What are the components of biofertilizer?
Ans. The components of biofertilizers are potassium solubilizers, nitrogen fixers, phosphorus mobilizers and phosphorus solubilizers.
Q3. What are the two types of fertilizer?
Ans. The two types of fertilizers are organic fertilizers and inorganic fertilizers.
Q4. What are the uses and importance of biofertilizers?
Ans. It protects the plants from pathogens, improves soil quality and destroys harmful soil substances. Biofertilizers are used to increase crop yield and seed treatment, among others.
Q5. What are the main components of organic fertilizer?
Ans. The main components of organic fertilizers are ground bone, manure, wood, crushed shells and others.
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