Biofertilizer- Types and Uses

Biofertilizer is a substance which contains living microorganisms which, when applied to seeds, plant surfaces, or soil and promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant.

• Biofertilizers add nutrients through the natural processes of nitrogen fixation, solubilizing phosphorus, and stimulating plant growth through the synthesis of growth-promoting substances.

Image Source: Agri Farming

Types of biofertilizers

1. Nitrogen-fixing biofertilizers
2. Phosphorus fixing biofertilizers

Benefits of Biofertilizers

• It helps in maintaining environmental health by reducing the level of pollution.
• Reduces human & animal hazards by reducing the level of residue in the product.
• Increases the agricultural products and makes it sustainable
• Ensures the optimum utilization of natural resources.
• Reduces the risk of crop failure.
• Improves the physical and chemical properties of soil
• Biofertilizers are cost-effective when compared to synthetic fertilizers
• Using biofertilizers can increase crop yield by 20 or 30 percent.

Uses of Biofertilizer

1. Nitrogen-fixing biofertilizers

Cultivated crop determine what type of nitrogen biofertilizer should be used:

• Rhizobium for legume crops.
• Azotobacter/Azospirillum for non legume crops.
• Acetobacter for sugarcane only.
• Blue-Green Algae (BGA) and Azolla for low paddy land used to grow rice.

2. Phosphorus fixing biofertilizers

Phosphorus biofertilizers are not dependent on the crops cultivated on the soil:

• Phosphatika for all crops to be applied with
• Rhizobium
• Azotobacter
• Azospirillum and Acetobacter

Compost fixing biofertilizers

Biofertilizers can use to enrich your compost and the bacterial processes breaking down the compost waste

•  Phosphotika and Azotobacter culture.

Drawbacks of Biofertilizers

• Slow-release
• Crop specific
• Strain-specific
• Soil specific—lose effectiveness if soil too dry or hot
• Lesser efficient than synthetic fertilizers
• Crops show less response to biofertilizers then chemical fertilizers
• Much lower nutrient density — requires large amounts to get enough for most crops.

Biofertilizer- Types and Uses