MICROBIAL INOCULANTS (Biofertilizers)
Beneficial microbes N2 fixers PO4 Solubilizers Organic Matter Decomposers
What are Biofertilizers-1?
Biofertilizers are natural and organic fertilizers.
Biofertilizers are preparations containing cells of
microorganisms which may be nitrogen fixers, phosphorus solublizers, sulphur oxidizers or organic matter decomposers.
They are called as bioinoculants - bacterium or fungi
which on supply to plant improve their growth and yield.
2
What are Biofertilizers-2?
These bioinoculants can reside on the surface of the
plant or form endophytic association or else
interacts with other microbes in the rhizosphere or
phyllosphere thereby influencing the plant growth.
Microbes are cost effective, ecofreindly with the
simple methodology of production and thereby no
hazard to the agro ecosystem
3
comprehensive description of microbial inoculants
The most limiting nutrient for plant growth are Nitrogen(N) and Phosphorus(P). Some microorganisms used as Biofertilizers fix atmospheric Nitrogen and while others increase availability and uptake of nutrients such as P and other key micronutrients such as copper, manganese, molybdenum etc. Thereby these Biofertilizers increase the crop yield tremendously.
Most Important nutrients: N, P & K
Biological N fixers: Types Symbiotic N2 fixers Non symbiotic N2 fixers Phosphate solubilizing bacteria Formation of soluble inorganic phosphate: easy absorption by plants Reduce the phosphate dose by 50% Cheaper Bacillus Pseudomonas
Free living N2 Fixers Sources of K: Potassium chloride Plant ash
Symbiotic N fixers
Rhizobia: Most exploited Infect legumes Rhizobia host compatibility important Cyanobacteria: Anabaena azollae : azolla flooded soil condition; wide adaptability Increase availability of micronutrients; Frankia: inoculum infectivity customisation of target area and target species Cyanobacteria: Anabaena azollae : azolla Increased Nitrogen, yield Great potential: very important for Rice
6
Rhizobia-1
The best known and most exploited symbiotic N2 fixing
bacteria belonging to family Rhizobiacea include the
genera such as Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium etc. These bacteria infect legumes and have global distribution. However N2 fixing capability of Rhizobia varies greatly depending on the host plant species. Therefore selection of best strains must take Rhizobia host compatibility for selection of Biofertilizers
7
Rhizobia-2
Legumes (such as beans, soybean, chickpea) inoculation is an old practice that has been carried out especially when local / resident rhizobial population in the soil are low. Rhizobial inoculum can be produced and applied in numerous ways such as granular, liquid or powder formulation. However the success depends upon strain and environmental condition. Therefore it is essential to evaluate inoculation programme, type depending on field experiments, microbiological assays and cost benefit analysis.
8
Cyanaobacteria-1:
Cyanaobacteria are ecologically important in N2 fixing organisms especially in rice cultivation. Anabaena azollae is a symbiotic heterocyst nitrogen fixing Cyanaobacteria which lies in fronds in the pores of the Azolla. Exploitation of azolla as a biofertilizer is a practical possibility in flooded soil condition. It is used as both green manure before planting and intercropped with rice after planting. The latter practice has wide adaptability and is more economical as Azolla decomposes within two weeks releasing about 67% of Its N.
Cyanaobacteria-2:
The increase in grain yield due to Azolla green manuring is about 0.5-2 tonnes per hectare. Thereby cyanobacteria should be seriously considered as biofertilizer with a great potential as these cyanobacterial (especially immobilized) have resulted in higher heterocyst frequency growth, nitrogenase activity and increased ammonia excretion and have also increases availability of micronutrients like iron. manganese in the soil.
10
Frankia
Frankia is the genus of N2 fixing actinomyctes capable of fixing N2 similar to rhizobial symbiosis. Frankia can fix N2 at normal O2 concentration at the rate sufficient to support its growth N2 fixation is accompanied by the development of terminal swelling known as vesicles in which nitrogenase enzyme are protected by restricting O2 diffusion. In addition to symbiotic properties of strain characteristics such as age of the inoculum, cellular concentration and the method of preservation greatly effect the inoculum infectivity. Since a universal strain adapted to different environmental host genotype does not exist, best plant Frankia combination should be selected and customized for a target area and target species.
11
Non-Symbiotic N fixers-1
Azospirillum Wide host range Tolerance to high soil temperature Produce Plant growth promoting substance Form Cyst under stress Great promise as a growth promoting N2 fixing biofertilizer Acetobacter Is a non symbiotic associated with sugarcane crop Difficult to isolate Grow artificially
12
Azospirillum-1
This genus includes spirally curved bacteria which not only lives in rhizosphere of grasses but can also enter root cortex. It is an associative micro- aerophilic Nitrogen fixer which not only colonizes root mass and fixes N2 in close association with plant in an environment of low O2 tension. These bacteria induce plant roots to secrete mucilage substances which creates low O2 environment and helps to fix atmospheric Nitrogen. It has a wide host range, high N2 fixation capacity, low energy requirement, tolerance to high soil temperature thereby makes these suitable for tropical condition.
13
Azospirillum-2
The positive aspect of this inoculant is that they produce plant growth promoting substance in addition to fixing the Nitrogen and has ability to differentiate into cyst under stress that enables its persistence for a long time in field condition. Azospirillum bears great promise as a growth promoting Nitrogen fixing biofertilizer. It has been recorded that Azospirillum inoculation may be used as biofertilizer for wheat ,rice thereby reducing use of urea N by approximately 20%.
14
Non-Symbiotic N fixers-2
Klebsiella Fix N2 under anaerobic condition, microaerophilic condition Require several field trails Bacillus Increased chlorophyll, Phosphorus , N2 content Produce IAA, Giberrelic acid
15
Klebsiella:
They fix N2 under anaerobic condition as these have no means of protecting nitrogenase enzyme from O2. These organisms have flexibility to grow under both aerobic and anaerobic environment. In the laboratory Klebsiella has been shown to reproduce
Nitrogen under micro- aerophilic condition.
Therefore use of Klebsiella as a biofertilizer will
require several field trials and future research.
16
Bacillus
Nitrogen fixing Bacillus Polymyxa and Bacillus macerans were isolated from cotton [Link] bacteria show an increase in yield of cotton due to its ability to fix nitrogen produce Indole Acetic Acid and Gibberelic acid production. The foliar spray on this phylloplane bacteria was showing an increased growth, yield, increased Nitrogen fixation and an increased chlorophyll , nitrogen, phosphorus content. Similarly Bacillus subtilis inoculation on chilli plant through the phyllosphere have resulted in increase in chlorophyll content , photosynthetic quotient and eventually increased growth.
17
Free living N bacteria
Azotobacter Promotes plant growth by N2 fixation Growth promoting substances Fungi static substances Improves seed germination and plant growth Thrives in alkaline soil
18
Azotobacter-1
This is a group of bacteria which are free living nitrogen fixer. Sufficient research work has been carried out on the role of Azotobacter culture in sugarcane cultivation. The result in general have indicated that application of Azotobacter at the rate of 5kg per hectare helps in reducing nitrogen dose by 50kg per hectare with increase in yield of cane by 5 to 10 %. The mechanism by which plants inoculated with Azotobacter derive its benefits such as increased biomass , Nitrogen uptake is attributed to increase in nitrogen input by Biological nitrogen fixation.
19
Azotobacter-2
Plants inoculated with Azotobacter also derive its benefits such as development and branching of roots ,production of plant growth hormones, vitamins, enhancement in uptake of nitrate, ammonium orthophosphate, potassium and iron improved water status of the plant and antifungal compounds. If environmental conditions allow nodulating bacterial symbionts (ex Frankia) of plant roots can also fix N2 when not in symbiotic association. Estimation of Nitrogen fixation by free-living bacteria is difficult.
20
Fungi as biofertilizer
Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae: obligate symbiont. Increased immobile nutrient uptake, water Heavy metal tolerant Disease resistance Reduces stress response Micro-propagation Saves phosphate fertilizer But limited Field application? On farm Production
21
Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria-1
Phosphorus is the second most limiting plant nutrient required for better crop yield. Indian soil contains on an average 0.05% Phosphorus which constitutes 0.2 % dry weight. Most of the soil Phosphorus pool is not in forms available for plant uptake or the soil might contain insufficient amount of available phosphate to support plant growth. As a result of application of phosphatic fertilizer is therefore essential for optimum crop yield. However the main problem concerning phosphatic fertilizer is that its fixation with soil complexes within a very short period of application rendering more than two third unavailable.
22
Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria-2
Many organisms possess the ability to bring sparingly soluble/insoluble inorganic and organic Phosphorus into soluble forms by secreting organic acids. These organic acids lower soil pH and in turn brings about dissolution of unavailable forms of soil Phosphorus making it available for plant growth and development. Some of the hydroxyl acids may chelate calcium, Aluminium, Iron and Magnesium resulting in effective availability in soil. Use of Phosphate solubilizing bacteria as bioinoculants could reduce the phosphate dose by 50% and could be applied in the form of Rock phosphate which is cheaper source of Phosphorus. The most commonly tested organisms of this group belong to the genera Bacillus and and Pseudomonas.
23
Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria-3
There were two method of phosphobactrium application i.e. seed treatment (500ginoculum per hectare) and soil application (200g per hectare). Pretreatment of seeds of cereals with phosphobactrium has been reported to help in reducing fertilizer phosphate requirement of the crop and increasing its grain yield. Potential use as Biopesticide: Although extensive research has been made on utilization of Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria in order to provide soluble forms of phosphate to plants while some of them were found to release antifungal compounds.
24
Bacteria like Pseudomonas striata (P-27) have a high P solubilzation activity and high anti fungal activity. Use of several such bioinoculants with combined attribute of fertilization and antipathogenic activity can provide long-lasting effective solutions for sustainable agriculture. Combined treatment with Phosphobacteria and mychorhizal fungi in several agriculturally important crops ex chillies, brinjal resulted in an increase in plant height, root length, biomass as well as total nitrogen and phosphorus content. Combined inoculation of Azospirillum and VAM increased growth yield, nutrient uptake of plant than with no bacterium added extraneously.
25
Co inoculation of Rhizobia and Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms is synergistic and results in better phosphate utilization and higher yield. Some of the Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms increase the uptake of nitrogen too. Thus right kind of bacteria and fungi in root zone fix nitrogen, release minerals and provide protection against disease causing organisms too. Thus multiple inoculation has a very important role in the future of biofertilizers to develop Integrated Nutrient Management package for various crops thereby reducing our dependence on synthetic chemical fertilizers.
26
27
28
How to apply biofertilizer?
Seed treatment.
Soil Application. Seedling root dip.
Other general techniques.
29
Response may be poor when the following are not OK Quality of product
Proper Storage Correct Usage
Soil and Environment
30
How to get good response ? Right combination of Biofertilizers Use suggested method of application at appropriate time For problematic soils :use corrective methods like lime or gypsum Use for specified crop only Care in storage
31
Prospect s for Emerging Biofertilizers In Global Market/India:
One of the challenges of globalization and green revolution is not only to increase the yield but is also to improve the nutritional quality of product so that it matches global standards. The world is undergoing a shift from inorganic conventional farming towards organic eco - friendly farming methods. This not only requires the isolation of bioinoculants with high potential for use as biofertilizers but also several other factors right from proper application procedures to correct marketing practices also being made economically cheaper.
32