PRODUCTION OF

BIO-FERTILIZERSBy:Abhijeet Verma

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

Environment friendly pose no danger to environment

Shown advantage over chemical fertilizer

Economical as compared to chemical fertilizer

Increases Nitrogen fixation capacity of soil

Replaces 25-30% of chemical fertilizer

Leads to increase in productivity

Currently Bio-fertilizer is used as a supplement to chemical fertilizer

As 25% of requirements for chemical fertilizer can be replaced by bio-fertilizer the coming demand of Bio-fertilizer can be estimated to be 27.3 lac MT for achieving the target production of 321 million tonnes of food grain by 2020.

Current installed production capacity for production is 86078 MT

Huge gap between requirement and production

Types Of Bio Fertilizer• Rhizobium• Azotobacter• Azospirillum• Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms(PSM)• Azolla• Vesicular – Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (VAM)

OUTLINE FOR COMMERCIAL RHIZOBIUM MANUFACTURE OF BIO-FERTILIZER

1. Culture selection and maintenance.

2. Culture Augmentation or Mass Multiplication.

3. Carrier Sterilization

CULTURE SELECTION AND MAINTENANCE

• The pure mother cultures of various strains are being maintained in Agricultural Universities, IARI, some ICAR institutions, Regional biofertilizer labs of MOA, etc.

• International sources of supply also like NifTAL, IRRI etc.

• The mother culture in test tubes of desired strain can be purchased from the identified sources.

• They have to be further sub-cultured and maintained purely for mass production by adopting standard techniques under the supervision of trained microbiologist.

CULTURE AUGMENTATION OR MASS MULTIPLICATION

The culture has to be mass multiplied in two levels namely (i) At primary level using shakers in flasks, and; (ii) Secondary stage multiplication in fermenters.

• In case of Rhizobium, molasses could serve as a superior source for rhizobial growth.

• Liquid malt extract could be ranked in the list and the third one was medium having sucrose mannitol in combination.

• Similarly, compositions for growth media are available for other cultures.

• After the media is formulated and sterilized in fermenter, • It is inoculated using the shorter cultures multiplied in the flasks at

definite ratios usually 5%.

• The bacteria growing medium is called BROTH and it is continuously aerated by passing sterile air from compressors.

• After about 3-4 days fermentation period, • The broth will be ready for packing in a carrier material. • At various stages the quality is tested by drawing samples.

Carrier Sterilization

• While the broth is getting ready in the fermenter the carrier material, which is usually the carbon source for the cultures to survive, is sterilized in autoclaves and kept ready for mixing the broth.

• For preparation of seed inoculant, the carrier material is milled to fine powder with particle size of 10-40 μm.

Properties of a good carrier material for seed inoculation

• Non-toxic to inoculant bacterial strain• Good moisture absorption capacity• Easy to process and free of lump-forming materials• Easy to sterilize by autoclaving or gamma-irradiation• Inexpensive• Good adhesion to seeds• Good ph buffering capacity, and;• Non-toxic to plant

Flow Chart For Commercial ProductionSTOCK

CULTURE

BROTH

BROTH IN BIG FLASK FOR

CULTURING

FERMENTATION FOR LARGE

SCALE PRODUCTION

BROTH QUALITY CHECK

BLENDED WITH

STERILIZED CAREER

PACKAGING

QUALITY CHECK AFTER

DIFFERENT DURATION

Mother Culture

Broth

Broth in small flask

Broth in big flask or bottles

Broth quality checking

The broth is blended with sterilized carrier

Packaging in polythene bags

25°C curing in controlled temperature rooms

Peat culture quality checking

4°C storage in low temperature rooms

DISPATCH TO FARMERS

Fermenters for large scale production

Production cycle of bio fertilizer

SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

PRE EXECUTION MARKETING

POST EXECUTION MARKETING

PRE EXECUTION MARKETING

• Area Identification• Mass Campaigning• Village Meeting• Targeting of potential farmers

POST EXECUTION MARKETING

• Publicity• Mega Farmers Meeting• Product Display• Demonstration• Advertising• Field Demonstration & Training

CAPACITY UTILIZATION & SALES

1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th yearProduction

Capacity per Annum 150 150 150 150 150

Capacity Utilization 20% 40% 70% 90% 90%

Annual Sales 30 60 105 135 135Annual Sales

value 945000 1890000 3307500 4252500 4252500

Own Capital (25%) 17Bank Loan (50%) 34

Government Subsidy (25%)* 17Total Capital Required 68

*Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme for Commercial Production Units of Organic Inputs under National Project on Organic Farming for each unit of Bio fertilizer will be provided with a subsidy @25% of the capital cost of the project subject to a ceiling of Rs40 lakh. So, as per the scheme the unit is entitled for the subsidy to the tune of Rs 17 lakhs.

Capital Cost of The Project

S.no. Particulars Estimated Cost (in lakhs)

1. Land Leveling 0.8

2. Civil Structures 15

3. Plant and Machinery 25

4. Other Fixtures 18

5. Preliminary and Pre-op. Expenses 3

6. Other Miscellaneous Expenses 6.2

TOTAL 68

BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS

(2,000,000)

(1,000,000)

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

1 2 3 4 5 6

Breakeven Analysis Chart

Fixed costs Total costs Total sales Net profit (loss)

Thank You