Biofertilizers Facts and Figures A lecture to M Phil Students By Allah Dad Khan

2. BIOFERTILZERS FACTS AND
FIGURE
BY
Mr.ALLAH DAD KHAN
AGRICULTURE EXPERT KPK
PAKISTAN

5. Biofertilizers Definition
• Biofertilizers :are defined as biologically active
products ormicrobial
inoculantsofbacteria,algaeandfungi(separately or in
combination), which may help
biologicalnitrogenfixation for the benefit of plants.
They did not contain any chemical which are
detrimental to the living soil.

6. Why Biofertilizers?
After the introduction of chemical fertilizers in the last century, farmers
were happy of getting increased yield in agriculture in the beginning. But
slowly chemical fertilizers started displaying their ill-effects such as
leaching out, and 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.

7. Why Bio Fertilizers? contd
1. With the introduction of green revolution technologies the modern agriculture
is getting more and more dependent upon the steady supply of synthetic inputs
(mainly fertilizers) which are products of fossil fuel (coal+ petroleum). Excessive
dependence of modern agriculture and the supply of these synthetic inputs and
the adverse effects being noticed due to their excessive and imbalanced use has
compelled the scientific fraternity to look for alternatives.
2. Excessive and imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers has adversely affected the
soil causing decrease in organic carbon, reduction in microbial flora of soil,
increasing acidity and alkalinity and hardening of soil.
3. Excessive use of N-fertilizer are contaminating water bodies thus affecting fish
fauna and causing health hazards for human beings and animals.
4. Production of chemical fertilizers adds to the pollution.

8. Advantages of Biofertilizers
1. Renewable source of nutrients , Longer shelf life -12-24 months.
2. Sustain soil health , no contimination , easy to use.
3. Supplement chemical fertilizers.
4. Replace 25-30% chemical fertilizers
5. Increase the grain yields by 10-40%., better survival on seeds and soil.
6. Decompose plant residues, and stabilize C:N ratio of soil
7. Improve texture, structure and water holding capacity of soil
8. No adverse effect on plant growth and soil fertility.
9. Stimulates plant growth by secreting growth hormones.
10. Secrete fungistatic and antibiotic like substances
11. Solubilize and mobilize nutrients with high enzymatic activity since
contimination is nil.
12. Eco-friendly, non-pollutants and cost effective method

9. Types of Bio fertilizers
Nitrogen Biofertilizers
Azobacter = For non legume crops
Rhizobium = For legume crops
Blue green algae =For rice crop
Azospirillum = Millets , oil seed and cotton
Azolla =For Rice
Acetobacter = For sugarcane crop

10. Azotobacter
• It is important and well known free living nitrogen fixing aerobic
bacterium. It is used as a Bio-Fertilizer for all non leguminous plants
especially rice, cotton, vegetables etc. Of the several species of
Azotobacter, A. chroococcum happens to be the dominant inhabitant in
arable soils capable of fixing N2 (2-15 mg N2 fixed/g of carbon) in culture
media. The lack of organic matter in the soil is a limiting factor for the
proliferation of Azotobacter in the soil

11. Rhizobium
• It has been estimated that 40-250 kg
N/ha/year is fixed by different legume crops
by the microbial activities of Rhizobium

12. Quantity of Biological N fixed by Liquid
Rhizobium in different crops
Host group Rhizobium species Crops Fixed N kg/ha
Pea group R.leguminosarum Green pea ,lentil 62-132
Soybean Group R.japonicum Soybean 57-105
Beans Group R.Phaseoli Beans 80-110
Clover Group R.trifoli Clovers 130
Alfafa Group R.Melilotus Alfalfa 100-150
Cow Peas R.species Cow Peas 57-105

13. Blue Green Algae (Cyanobacteria)
• These are free-living as well as symbiotic
cyanobacteria (blue green algae) and
described by a group of one-celled to many-
celled aquatic organisms. These can be brown,
purple or red in colour, found in wet and
marshy conditions, only used for rice
cultivation and do not survive in acidic

14. Azospirillum
• It belongs to bacteria and fix the considerable quantity of nitrogen in the range of
20- 40 kg N/ha in the rhizosphere in nonleguminous plants such as cereals, millets,
oilseeds, cotton etc. The organism proliferates under both anaerobic and aerobic
conditions. It do not form root nodules and live inside plant roots. It stimulates for
the production of growth promoting substance (IAA), disease resistance and
drought tolerance

15. Azolla
• Azolla is a free-floating water fern that floats in water and fixes atmospheric
nitrogen in association with nitrogen fixing blue green alga Anabaena azollae.
Azolla is used as biofertilizer for wetland rice and it is known to contribute 40-60
kg N/ha per rice crop Besides its cultivation as a green manure, Azolla has been
used as a sustainable feed substitute for livestock especially dairy cattle, poultry,
piggery and fish.

16. Types of Bio fertilizers
• Phosphorus biofertilizers
• Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSM): The species of Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Aspergillus etc.
secrete organic acids and lower the pH in their vicinity to bring about dissolution of bound phosphates in
soil.
• Phosphatika for all crops to be applied with Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum and Acetobacter
• Am Fungi
• The transfer of nutrients mainly phosphorus and also zinc and sulphur from the soil milleu to the cells of
the root cortex is mediated by intracellular obligate fungal endosymbionts of the genera Glomus,
Gigaspora, Acaulospora, Sclerocysts and Endogone which possess vesicles for storage of nutrients and
arbuscles for funneling these nutrients into the root system. By far, the commonest genus appears to
be Glomus, which has several species distributed in soil.
• Availability for pure cultures of AM (Arbuscular Mycorrhiza) fungi is an impediment in large scale
production despite the fact that beneficial effects of AM fungal inoculation to plants have been repeatedly
shown under experimental conditions in the laboratory especially in conjunction with other nitrogen
fixers.
•

17. Types of biofertilizers
Compost Biofertilizers
1. Cellulolytic fungal culture
2. Phosphotika and Azotobacter culture

18. Biofertilizers and Fertility
1. The Rhizobium legume symbiosis could meet more than 80%
need of legume crop and increase yield of pulse crop by 10-
15 %
2. Azolla ( Blue green algae relevant to rice crop contributes 20-
40 %kg/ha fertilizer equivalent to Nitrogen .
3. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria with low grade rock
phosphate contribute about 30-35 kg P/ha in neutral to
slightly alkaline soils.
4. The farm produce does not contain traces of hazardous and
poisonous materials
5. Thus those products are accepted across the world as
Organic ones.
6. Hence for organic farming the use of biofertilizers is
mandatory.

19. How Biofertilizers works?
1. Biofertilizers fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and
root nodules of legume crops and make it available to
plants.
2. They solubilize the insoluble form of phosphate like
tricalcium iron and alluminium into available form.
3. They scavenge phosphate from soil layers.
4. They produce hormones and anti metabolites in soil.
5. They decompose organic matter and help in
mineralization of soil.
6. Incerase yield by 10-15 % without adversely affecting
the soil and environment.

20. Application of Biofertilizers
Seed treatment
• The seeds are uniformly mixed in the slurry of
inoculant and then shade dried for 30
minutes. The shade dried seeds are to be
sown within 24 hours. One packet of the
inoculant (200 g) is sufficient to treat 10 kg of
seeds

21. Application of Biofertilizers
Seedling root dip
This method is used for transplanted crops. Two
packets of the inoculant are mixed in 40 litres
of water. The root portion of the seedlings is
dipped in the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes and
then transplanted

22. Application of Biofertilizers
Main Field Application
Four packets of the inoculant are mixed with
20 kgs of dried and powdered farm yard
manure and then broadcasted in the main
field just before transplanting.

23. Application of Biofertilizers
Set Treatment
This method is recommended generally for
treating the sets of sugarcane, cut pieces of
potato and the base of banana suckers. Culture
suspension is prepared by mixing 1 kg (5 packets)
of bio-fertilizer in 40- 50 litres of water and cut
pieces of planting material are kept immersed in
the suspension for 30 minutes. The cut pieces are
dried in shade for some time before planting. For
set treatment, the ratio of bio-fertilizer to water
is approximately 1:50

24. Difference between Biofertilizer and organic
manure
Biofertilizer Organic manure
Bio-fertilizer it self explains,
fertilizer that contains living
organisms that synthesis the
atmospheric plant nutrient in
the soil or in the plant body,
the bio' fertilizers may be in
solid or liquid medium and
micro organisms are in huge
numbers i.e. 10000000 gm
Organic manure is the manure
prepared from the
animalplant wastes after
properly decomposing the raw
material it may contain all
necessary plant nutrients in
small quantities. these are
required in large quqntities.
these may the medium for bio-
fertilizers.

25. History of biofertilizers
• The commercial history of Biofertilizers began
with the launch of ‘Nitragin’ by Nobbe and
Hiltner, a laboratory culture of Rhizobia in
1895, followed by the discovery of
Azotobacter and then the blue green algae
and a host of other microorganisms.
Azospirillum and VesicularArbuscular
Micorrhizae (VAM) are fairly recent
discoveries.

26. Concepts of Biofertilizers

27. Care for biofertilizers
1. Biofertilisers are live product and require
care in storage
2. For best results use both nitrogenous and
phosphatic biofertilisers
3. Use of biofertilizers is being empasized along
with chemical fertilizers and organic
manures.
4. Biofertilizers are not replacement of fertlizers
but can supplement their requirement.

28. CONSTRAINTS
IN
BIOFERTILIZERS

29. Technological constraints
1. Use of improper, less efficient strains for production.
2. Lack of qualified technical personnel in production
units.
3. Unavailability of good quality carrier material or use
of different carrier materials by different producers
without knowing the quality of the materials.
4. Production of poor quality inoculants without
understanding the basic microbiological techniques
5. Short shelf life of inoculants.

30. Infrastructural constraints
1. Non-availability of suitable facilities for
production
2. Lack of essential equipments, power supply,
etc.
3. Space availability for laboratory, production,
storage, etc.
4. Lack of facility for cold storage of inoculant
packets

31. Financial constraints
1. Non-availability of sufficient funds and
problems in getting bank loans
2. Less return by sale of products in smaller
production units

32. Environmental constraints
1. Seasonal demand for biofertilizers
2. Simultaneous cropping operations and short
span of sowing/planting in a particular
locality
3. Soil characteristics like salinity, acidity,
drought, water logging, etc.

33. Human resources and quality
constraints
a. Lack of technically qualified staff in the production units.
b. Lack of suitable training on the production techniques.
c. Ignorance on the quality of the product by the manufacturer
d. Non-availability of quality specifications and quick quality control
methods
e. No regulation or act on the quality of the products
f. Awareness on the technology
g. Unawareness on the benefits of the technology
h. Problem in the adoption of the technology by the farmers due to
different methods of inoculation.
i. No visual difference in the crop growth immediately as that of
inorganic fertilizers.

34. Awareness on the technology
a) Unawareness on the benefits of the technology.
b) Problem in the adoption of the technology by
the farmers due to different methods of
inoculation.
c) No visual difference in the crop growth
immediately as that of inorganic fertilizers.
d) Unawareness on the damages caused on the
ecosystem by continuous application of
inorganic fertilize

35. Marketing constraints
1. Non availability of right inoculant at the right
place in right time.
2. Lack of retain outlets or the market network
for the producers.

36. Recommendations
a. For pulses such as moong, urad, arhar, cowpea etc and legume oil seeds such as
groundnut and soyabean use Rhizobium + Phosphotika 200 gm each per 10 kg of
seed as seed treatment.
b. For non legume crops such as wheat, sorghum maize, cotton mustard etc use
Azotobacter + Phosphotika 200 gm each per 10 kg of seed as seed treatment.
c. For Jute - Azospirillum + Phosphotika 200 gm each as seed treatment.
d. Vegetables like tomato, brinjal, chilli, cabbage, cauliflower etc. use
Azotobacter/Azospirillum + Phosphotika, 1 kg each as seedling root dip.
e. Low land transplanted paddy Azospirillum + Phosphotika 2 kg each/acre as
seeding root dip for 8-10 hrs.
f. Potato, ginger colocassia, turmeric, sugarcane and zoom paddy-use
Azospirillum/Azotobacter + Phosphotika 4 kg each/acre mixed with compost
and applied as soil treatment.
g. Sugarcane-use Acetobacter + Phosphotika 4 kg each/acre as seed set dipping.
h. Plantation crops-Azotobacter _Phosphotika 4 kg each/acre with compost and
applied in soil in two splits per year.