Dear Neha,

Three types of Bio-Fertilizers,

1.       Rhizobium,

2.       Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria (PSB) and

3.        Azetobactor.

 In the carrier-based (solid) bio-fertilizers, the microorganisms have a shelf life of only six months. They are not tolerant to UV rays and temperatures more than 30 degrees. The population density of these microbes is only 108 (10 crores) c.f.u/ml at the time of production. This count reduces day by day. In the fourth month it reduces to 106 (10 lakhs) c.f.u/ml and at the end of 6 months the count is almost nil.

 Other advantages of Liquid Bio-fertilizers: 

1. contains special cell protectants or substances that encourage formation of resting spores or cysts. 

2. Contains special nutrients that ensure longer shelf life, Better survival on seeds and soil and tolerance to adverse conditions. 

3. Liquid formation ensures that the product is easy to handle and apply. 

4. Since the organisms are stabilized during production, distribution and storage, the activity is enhanced after the contact and interaction with the target crops. 

5. No loss of properties due to storage up to 55 degrees. 

6. Greater potentials to fight with native population. 

7. Dosages are 10 times lesser than the carrier-based bio-fertilizers. 

8. Very high enzymatic activity since contamination is nil.

Regards,

Prem Baboo

Article Bio fertilizers and Eco friendly approach

I compliment both Drs .Baboo and Antoun for their comment .Dr.Baboo's reply provides  good background information on bio-fertilizers while the reply of Dr.Antoun provided the direction for future  research.As a lot of research information is already available on biofertilizers,implementing the  practical recommendations on farmers's fields under different stress situations (as pointed out by Dr. Antoun) like water,temperature,adverse soil conditions like salinity sodicity and acidity,competing native organisms  is a challenge.Use of a few  species of microorganisms in consortium mode needs greater  attention for plant growth promotion,nutrient fixing and releasing,as bio control agents etc.Some organisms have more than one function which needs to be exploited and more than one organism does the same work/function which may help under some situations.Farmers always see the performance of the biocultures or biofertilizers.If one sees the Indian biofertilizer production data(given  in literature provided by Dr. Baboo),there is a very conspicuous increase in use of P solubilizing biofertilizers while the N fixing biofertilizers use did not show that such increase (even though N fixation is very important and  it saves the cost on purchase of costly N fertilizers ).

Interesting discussion .  Our learned colleagues like Dr Baboo and Dr Antoun have already given you enough preview of the work , you should aim at . I would suggest to you please take such works on microbe(s) which have both primary function function ( Phosphate solubilizing as primary function ) and secondary function as well , with the result , other nutrient like Fe, Mn , Zn are also mobilized in an assimilable forms. Such studies will give you better impetus on plant nutrition vis-à-vis soil health assessment . And , it will better to isolate and characterize the native isolates as rhizocompetent microbes .You can further expand your studies to develop microbial  consortium, dpending upon the time , you have ; the kind of work , you aim at and kind of crops , you look to address at ...but the work is very adventurous playing with such invisible mangers of soil fertility plus having additional ecological service..

Hi Neha,

nice to know that you have chosen to work on biofertilizers. i would like to suggest something different. There are identified and isolated biofertizers like N-fixers (symbiotic and free living), P solubilisers (both fungi and bacteria), K solubilizers etc. There are also other preparations gaining popularity with farmers are - Jeevamrit, panchagavya, amritpani etc. in these consortia of microbes present performing various functions. hypothetically, the process could be like gut obligatory microflora die soon in the dung taken over by the saprophytic microbes. when the product is stabilised, agriculturally important microbes are observed. if these microbes can be multiplied and given in small sachet formulations for agri use, the volumes can be drastically reduced and farmers could use them easily.

regards 

hi all, thanks for the reply!

I want to work on a good bio fertilizer which is beneficial for all kind of crops. I am not targeting a single crop. that is why i am confuse actually i am from basic microbiology background and now got the srf project to start with organic farming using bio fertilizer.  so please suggest that which one i should select?  

should i go for silicate solubilizing bacteria, are they have much importance in organic farming, should i standardize the protocol for their mass production?

Neha ji,

my suggestion would be consortia of microbes would be a better one as organic farming itself is based on the diversity principle. in organic farming, single factor contributes many functions and single function  is contributed by many factors. Or else work on the elephant dung (elephant digests hardy materials easily) microbes so that a good biomass digesting microbe can be identified. standardise the protocols for mass multiplication and these can be used in composting process for a quick compost.

all the best.

Neha

my advice is to test the use of  many species of bacteria,like nitrogen fixing bacteria(symbiotic and free living),P solubilizing bacteria or you can use AM fungi regardless crop species at the first step,then according to the results you obtain you can select  the best combination that gave you the best results for use in the second step.

Collection of soil samples from virgin lands from different parts of India with a view to account for diversity of soils and characterizing them for diverse flora and fauna serves as a fundamental base for future research. Whereas, bio fertilizer use efficiency using a given test crop etc. is a routine research like a drop in the ocean which can not take you to pinnacle of excellence. Good luck.

Dr. Srinivasa Reddy I very well appreciate your first sentence.Baseline data on soil,flora and fauna are important for any future comparison of health of our ecosystem and ecosystem services.On earth day one and all should think of conserving and preserving our nature by minimizing our intervention to the extent possible.

Dr. A S Rao, thank you for your reflection. The saying, birds with same feathers flock together, has been confirmed by your comment.

Dear Neha

work on the use of bio fertilizers in agricultural programs is a good idea  but you should determine at the beginning the purpose you want to use for,the crop you want to use , and the environmental conditions(include soil type,and microorganisms founded in the soil), then you can determine which bio fertilizer you can apply.I use bio fertilizers(Azospirillum  sp.,and Azotobacter  sp. each one with Pseudomonas  sp.  combination) for Apricot seeds germination and seedlings growth later . this treatments gave me very interesting results that seedlings reached the suitable size for budding in late May.

best regards

There are a lots of factors that you need to put in place.

1. You need to know the type of soil you want to apply the biofertilizer physico-chemical properties of the soil

2. The type of microbial diversity available in the soil

3. Selection of an effective strain for the production of biofertilizer

4. Mass production of effective strain for the production of biofertilizer

5. Viability of the strain and the best storage condition that could help to maintain/ enhance their viability

6. The techniques you will like to utilized for its application

7. The type of crop you are considering

8. Their ecotoxicological and environmental safety assessment of the biofertilizer i.e soil enzyme, soil carbon, soil respiration, soil microorganims,

oc, Kd, aerobic and anaerobic half-lives, photolysis etc.9. I will be very crucial if you can also determine the effect of temperature stress, incidence of disease

Dear: Neha

you can use AM fungi, with Nitrogen fixing bacteria, Phosphorus soluble bacteria ,

Or using other kind like Microbin " bio-compatible " consisting of a large group of microorganisms that increase soil fertility, reduces the rates of nitrogen fertilizers, phosphates and micro elements.

In a broader sense, I suggest excretions of earthworms usually called vermi-compost is an excellent organic fertilizer biologically produced which can be researched upon for its holistic properties in improving the soil productivity.