Sustainability

and
Role of Bio-fertilizers

Dr. Bhavesh Patel

Principal
V.P. and R.P.T.P. Science College, Vallabh Vidyanagar
Email- [email protected]
 The Presentation Focuses On

 Fertilizer Consumption and Food Grains

Production Scenario in India;
 Causes of Declining Crop Productivity;
 Sustainability of Farmers;
 Deficiency of Nutrients in Soil;
 Use Of Balanced Fertilizers and Biofertilizers;
 Comparison to other Countries.
Stagnation in Food grains Production in India
• Till 1997-98 strong Exploring Relationship Between Foodgrain
correlation is found Production & Fertilizer Consumption
between Fertilizer 20000.0 200

consumption and food 18000.0 180

grains production NPK Consumption
16000.0 160
• After 1997-98, this Foodgrain Production
14000.0 140
relationship distorted
12000.0 120
Most of States are

in Million MT
in '000 MT
experiencing increase in 10000.0 100
fertilizer consumption 8000.0 80
with slower pace of crop
productivity 6000.0 60

Some states witness 4000.0 40

consumption of fertilizer 2000.0 20

picking up without any
conspicuous gain on 0.0 0
1966-67
1969-70
1972-73
1975-76
1978-79
1981-82
1984-85
1987-88
1990-91
1993-94
1996-97
1999-2000
2002-03
agricultural crop
productivity
 The Role of Fertilisers

• Increase productivity
• Therefore, there has to be a positive correlation
between use of fertilisers and crop yield
• The crop yield is falling and not in proportionate
to fertilizer consumption
 COMPARISON TO OTHER COUNTRIES
Country Fertiliser Uses Country 2003 2004 Increase
Kg/Ha Kg/ha Kg/ha in Yield
Kg/ha

1 India 104.7
2 Pakistan 164.1 Egypt 7209 7347 138

3 Bangladesh 188.6
China 4745 5044 299
4 France 215.9
5 Sri Lanka 271.8 Srilanka 3219 3475 256

6 China 275.1
India 2098 2103 5
7 United 315.1
Kingdom

8 Egypt 471.5 Due to higher level of

consumption, productivity is on
9 N. Zealand 668.5
rise in Egypt, China, Srilanka
 Causes Of Declining Crop Productivity
• Imbalanced and indiscriminate use of chemical
fertilisers
• Occurrence of multi-nutrients deficiency such as
Zinc, boron, sulphur etc. besides NPK
• Rain dependent agriculture - About 2/3 area
• Inadequate irrigation facilities
• Continuous fragmentation of land, unfavourable
for adoption of technology
• Land holding pattern and Predominance of
marginal and small farmers
 Major Cause: Nutrient Deficiency In Soil
Photosynthesis: CO2 + H2O  carbohydrates (CHO) + O2
• Besides NPK, Sulphur, Zinc
And Calcium are also
required in good quantity.
• Other nutrients such as
Iron, Boron etc. though
required in small quantities,
but their deficiency
significantly impacts plant
growth & life.
• Micronutrient deficiency
(Zn, Boron, Iron & Sulphur)
Nutrients are taken up primarily by the roots in Indian Soil is increasing
in the form of an aqueous solution in the soil

Innumerable experiments prove there is Significant increase in Yields by

application of secondary & micronutrients along with NPK nutrients
 Use Of Balanced Fertilisers
• Use of Balanced Fertilizers, Organic fertilizers and
Bio-fertilizers can provide viable leverage to increase
crop productivity
• It enrich the soil with important nutrients
• Bio-fertilizers has potential to generate additional
income to farmers from the same size of land
• Types of Bio-fertilizers
– Rhizobium, Azotobactor,
– Azospirillium, PSB
– BGA, Azolla
– Mycorrhiza
 Benefits from Biofertilizers
• Low cost, easy technique
• Free from pollution hazards
• Increase soil fertility

• Quantity required decreased year by year

• Cyanobacteria secrete growth promoting substances like

IAA, IBA, NAA, AA, Proteins, Vitamins etc.
• Many agents secretes antibiotics which act as pesticides

• It improves physico-chemical properties of soil

• Harmless to human and animals

 Nitrogenous Biofertilizers
N2 + 3H2 2NH3
• Fritz Haber (German Chemist) developed a method for
production of ammonia
• The reaction is carried out at 800oF, high pressure and
require high energy up to 13500 Kcal/ Kg of Nitrogen fixed
• Nitrogenous biofertilizers-
Azolla > Rhizobium > Cyanobacteria >Azospirillum >
Azotobacter
 Rhizobium
• Nobbe and Hiltner introduce the laboratory
culture of rhizobia with the name “Nitragin”
in 1895
• This organism can be isolated from soil or
root nodule (preferably) after sterilizing the
root nodule by mercuric chloride or
sodium hypochlorite solution or 90% ethanol
• YEMA, 3-4 days, 28-30oC
• Colonies are white, translucent,
elevated with entire margin
 Rhizobium - Identification
• CRYEMA test – Congo red + YEMA, rhizobium produce white
colony while agrobacterium produce similar but pink colony
• Microscopic observation – rhizobium upon staining with carbol
fuschin demonstrate the presence of PHB
• Lactose test – rhizobium do not utilize lactose
• Glucose Peptone Agar (GPA) test – rhizobium fails to grow
while agrobacterium grow well on GPA
• Salt tolerance test – YEMA+2% NaCl, rhizobium can not grow
but agrobacterium grow
• Nodulation test in pot
 Microbial inoculants – Steps involved
• Isolation, identification of native strain
• Screening of best isolates and developing mother culture or
starter culture in YEM broth (28-30oC, 4 days)
• Cultivation on large scale using industrial media at pH 6.5-7.0,
5% inoculum, 4-7 days
• Measuring cell count (108-109 cells/ml)
• Mixing the culture with carrier (Farm Yard Manure, Charcoal,
Lignite, Peat etc.)
• Packing and Storage (4-15oC)
• Transportation and application
 Azotobacter
• Beijerinck isolated and described Azotobacter chroococcum
and A. agilis
• It fixes 20 – 40 Kg N/ha/annum
• Also produce IAA, GA, AA, Vitamines
• Recommended for rice, wheat, cotton etc.
• A. beijerincki, A. insignis, A. paspali, A. macrocytogenes,
A.vinelandii are the other spp.
 Azotobacter - Characterstics
• Gram negative, rod shaped, aerobic, peritrichously flagellated
• Grow well at 25-30oC, high humidity, aeration, pH 7.2-7.6, high
salt conc.
• Forms cyst which resist unfavorable conditions (UV,
desiccation)
• Isolation can be done from soli using N free media like Ashby's
manitol media, Jensen's media
• Colonies are flat, soft, milky and mucoid
• Steps involved in large scale productions and application are
same as rhizobium
 Azospirillum
• In 1925, Beijerinck isolated nitrogen fixing bacteria from root of
grass in Brazil and named it as Spirillum lipoferum
• In 1978, Tarrand renamed spirillum as Azospirillum
• It is an associative symbionts, colonise on root and sometime
infects cortex, without developing any apparent structure on
roots
• Fixes 20-40 Kg of N/ha/annum under microaerophilic conditions
• A. lipoferum, A. brasilense, A. amezonens, A.
halopraeferns, A. irakense are the known spp.
 Azospirillum
• Isolation can be done from soil or root surface after sterilization
with 0.1% mercuric chloride
• Media used for growth contains sodium malate (28-30oC,2
days). Medium turns blue in presence of Azospirillum
• Azospirillum is a Gram negative, motile, containing PHB
• Aerobic to microaerophilic in nature
• Suitable carbon sources are malate, succinate, lactate,
pyruvate, poor growth on glucose or citrate
• For mass cultivation ammonium chloride containing Okon's
medium is recommended
 Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria(PSB)
• P is second vital nutrient after N for the growth of plants
• P available in soil is in insoluble form
• Generally supplied in the form of superphosphate
• Many organisms in the soil solublises phosphate
eg. Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Micrococcus, Flavobacterium,
Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Sclerotium etc.
• PSB produces organic acids like lactic, succinic, propionic,
formic acid etc. Consequently bound form of phosphate
solubilises and charged molecule of phosphorus are absorbed
by plants. Pikovskaya medium is used for isolation.
 Cyanobacterial Inoculants
• Role of blue green algae (Anabaena, Nostoc, Plectonema,
Aulosira, Cylindrospermum) in the paddy field is well known
• In water lodging condition cyanobacteria multiply, fix nitrogen
and release it in the form of amino acids, proteins and other
growth promoting substances
• Cyanobacteria can be isolated on fogg’s medium by adding soil
from paddy field
• After proper agitation, flask is incubated at RT under the
influence of 12 hrs of light and dark regime
• Further isolation and purification is made using solid medium
 Cyanobacterial Inoculants-Mass cultivation
• For mass cultivation pure culture of BGA is used as inocula
• Methods for mass cultivation involves –
- cemented tank method
- shallow metal troughs method
- polythene lined pit method
- field method
• BGA after growth can be dried, powdered, kept in sealed
polythene begs and supplied to the farmers
• Cyanobacterial inoculants can be stored for more then 3 yrs
with out any loss in viability (10 kg BGA/ ha of paddy field)
 Azolla
• Azolla is an aquatic heteroporus fern which contains an
endophytic cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae in its leaf cavity
• A total of six spp. of Azolla are known i.e. A. caroliniana, A.
filiculoides, A. mexicana, A. microphylla, A. nilotica, A. pinnata,
A. rubra
 Azolla
• For good growth of Azolla P2O5 is added in water pond, pH is
maintained 8.0 and temperature between 14-30oC. An
insecticide furadon is added to check the growth of insects.
After 3 weeks Azolla is harvested, dried and applied
• Azolla shows tolerance to heavy metals like Hg, Pb, Cu, Cd, Cr
Thank You