MIC319 BIOFERTILIZER

By

Siti Norazura Jamal

Objective

• Identify the basic concept in biofertilizer

Introduction

• In the last century, chemical fertilizers were used in agriculture. 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

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

Solution

• A number of intellectuals throughout the world started working on the alternatives

• Found that biofertilizers can help increasing the yield without causing the damage associated with chemical fertilizers.

BIOFERTILIZERS

What is bio fertilizers?

• Is a large population of a specific or a group of beneficial microorganisms for enhancing the productivity of soil.

• Either by fixing atmospheric nitrogen or by solubilizing soil phosphorus or by stimulating plant growth through synthesis of growth promoting substance.

• Bio fertilizers based on renewable energy source are cost effective, eco friendly and can help to economize on the high investment needed for chemical fertilizer

Benefits from using bio fertilizers

•Increase crop yield by 20-30%.

• Replace chemical nitrogen and phosphorus by 25%.

• Stimulate plant growth.

• Activate the soil biologically.

• Restore natural soil fertility.

• Provide protection against drought and some soil borne diseases.

The advantages of bio-fertilizers

1.Cost effective.

2. Supplements to fertilizers.

3. Eco-friendly (Friendly with nature).

4. Reduces the costs towards fertilizers use, especially regarding nitrogen and phosphorus.

Types of Biofertilizer

1) For nitrogen

- Rhizobium for legumes crops

- Azotobacter/ Azospirilium for non legume crops

- Acetobacter for sugarcane only.

- Blue –Green Algae (BGA) and Azolla for low land paddy.

2) For phosphorus

- Phosphate solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) for all crops to be applied with Rhizobium,

Azotobacter, Azospirilium and Acetobacter

3) For enriched compost

- Phosphate solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) and Azatobacter culture

- Cellulolytic fungal culture

• Phospo: it release insoluble phosphorus in soil and fix this phosphorus in clay minerals which is of great significance in agriculture.

• Rhizo: bacterial plays a very important role in agriculture by inducing nitrogen fixings nodules on the root of legumes such as peas and alfafa.

• Azotobacter: fixes the atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and make it available to the plants. It protects the root from other pathogens present in the soil.

• Trichoderma: it is a non pathogenic and eco-friendly product. The product is antagonistic hyper parasitic against different pathogens in the field and economically well established biocontrol agent.

Azospirilium Rhizobium

Phosphobacteria Azotobacter

• Composter: composter breaks down any OM such as dead plants from yard waste, thereby increasing the soil productivity.

• Tricho-Card: Trichogramma is an efficient destroyer of eggs of many leaf and flower eaters, stems, fruit, shoot. It can be used in a variety of crops such as sugarcane, corn, vegetables, paddy and apple.

• Vermi Compost: it is 100% pure eco-friendly organic fertilizer. Has nitrogen phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon, sulphur, hormones, vitamins, enzymes and antibiotics which helps to improve the quality and quantity of yield.

BIOCOMPOST

BIOCOMPOST

• Eco friendly organic fertilizer

• Prepared from the sugar industry waste material which is decomposed and enriched of varios plants and human friendly bacteria and fungi.

• Consists of nitrogen, phosphate solubilizing bacteria and various useful fungi like decomposing fungi, trichoderma viridea which protects the plants from various soil borne disease.

• Increase soil fertility which results to a good quality products to the farmers.

COMPOST • The aerobically decomposed remnants of OM. Used in

landscaping, agriculture as a soil conditioner and fertilizer.

• Useful for erosion control, wetland construction, and as landfill cover.

• Compost serves as a growing medium, or a porous, absorbent material that holds moisture and soluble minerals, providing the support and nutrients.

• To maximize plant growth, it is sometimes necessary to:

Dilute with soil or peat to reduce salinity or to add neutralizers (pH closer to 7).

Additional nutrients like fertilizers or manure, and materials to improve drainage and aeration, (sand or clay granules).

COMPOST TYPES

• There are different ways to compost, starting with layers of ‘brown’ and ‘green’ biodegradable waste mixed with garden soil.

‘Brown’ waste- old straw, tough vegetable stems.

‘Green’ waste- biodegradable waste that breaks down faster, such as fruit and cut flowers.

There is also Vermicomposting, which uses worms to

help break down the organic waste.

BOKASHI

• Bokashi (Japanese for “fermented organic matter”) is a method of intensive composting.

• Commonly made with only molasses, water, EM, and wheat bran.

• Can be made by inoculating any organic matter with a variety of hosts of beneficial bacteria/microbes

• This includes manures, spent mushroom compost, mushroom spores, forest soil tea, yeast, pickles, wine and beer.

• Molasses feeds the microbial cultures as they inoculate the organic matter.

EFFECTIVE MICROORGANISM

INDIGENOUS MICROORGANISM

• In ecology, an indigenous species is an organism which is native to a given region or ecosystem.

• Contrast with introduced species (naturalized or exotic species) which is an organism that is not indigenous to a given place, but has been transported there as a result of human activity.

• Lactobacillus culture.

BACKGROUND OF EM TECHNOLOGY

• Developed by Prof. Higa in 1982.

• Was used in agriculture and environment field.

• Thereafter EM has been for animal husbandly, industry human welfare, education, construction and medical field.

WHAT IS EM?

• Complex microorganism solution.

• It contains mainly 3 species such as Lactic acid bacteria, Yeast, Phototrophic Bacteria.

• Collected from food industries and nature.

• All microorganisms in EM are non genetic bacteria.

Types of EM

• Lactic acid bacteria: Lactobacillus plantarum; L.casei, Streptococcus lactis

• Photosynthetic bacteria: Rhodopseudomonas palustris, Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

• Yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Candida utilis

• Actinomycetes: Streptomyces albus; S. griseus

• Fermenting fungi: Aspergillus oryzae; Mucor hiemalis

Lactic acid bacteria

Yeast

BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE OF EM IN AGRICULTURE

• Promotes germination, flowering, fruiting and ripening in plants.

• Improves physical, chemical and biological environments of the soil and suppresses soil borne pathogens and pests.

• Enhances the photosynthetic capacity of crops.

• Ensure better germination and plant establishment

• Increases the efficacy of OM as fertilizers.

• Develops resistance of plants to pests and disease.