Biofertilizers

Excessive chemical fertilizers in crop fields leads to degradation in physiochemical and biological properties of soil viz., increased acidity, decreased water holding capacity, 10\ humus formation, mortality in beneficial soil organisms etc. The forest vegetation is drastically damaged and reduced due to different human activities, such as illegal and indiscriminate tree felling, encroachment, expansion of roads, industrialization and township, mining and shifting cultivation particularly in northeast India. Re-vegetation and restoration of these degraded lands is a major thrust area of research with suitable ecofriendly technologies. Keeping this in view and to decrease pressure on the natural forest and to make the people self-sustaining, some alternatives such as Joint Forest Management, social forestry, agroforestry, and organic farming etc. have been conceptualized. Use of biofertilizers in agricultural and forestry sector has emerged as an efficient means to increase the productivity preventing the adverse ecological degradation at the same time. Bamboo with its short gestation period and recurring economic returns is a promising species for agroforestry. Its production needs be augmented by the use of biofertilizers, the ecofriendly way of productivity enhancement. Present paper describes the effect of biofertilizers on growth of bamboo which is considered one of the most important agroforestry tree-crops in Northeast India.

Soil is the basic requirement for agriculture crop production and simultaneously the microbial activity is important to improve soil health for healthy crop growth because microbial communities play an important role in building a complex link between plants and soil. Microbiomes from plants, soil and extreme environments are naturally gifted with amazing capabilities which play significant roles in the maintenance of global nutrient balance and ecosystem functions. The microbiomes from diverse niches have in fact emerged as potential tools for improving the plant growth and productivity by diverse mechanisms include solubilization of nutrients, nitrogen fixation, hormonal stimulation as well as biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Further, these microbiomes have an immense potential to maintain soil health and fertility. Thus, dependent on their mode of action and effects, these microbiomes can be used as biofertilizers, biopesticides, plant strengtheners, and phytostimulators whic...

42 In quest of prospective rizospheric bacteria of agricultural importance, one of the isolates from bean (Lablab niger Medikus) was identified as Bacillus siamensis based on morphological, biochemical and 16S rRNA gene sequencing data. Study was carried out to evaluate growth promotion of two tomato cultivars, in vitro and in vivo. Experiments conducted for two consecutive years, following seed treatments revealed that the bacterial isolate increased plant height by 14.66-15.68%, shoot fresh weight by 34.5-65.09% and root fresh weight by 75.3-92.48% over the non-treated control. The bacterial strain showed encouraging results for plant growth promotion in pot study and hence may be useful for the growth enhancement of tomato plant.

In this study, the effect of introducing different amounts of EM-Bokashi into the growing medium of Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana was evaluated (Figure 1) to determine whether this organic soil is able to improve the growth and flowering of these succulents. The five experimental groups in cultivation were: i) group without beneficial EM-Bokashi; ii) group with 5% EM-Bokashi; iii) group with 10% EM-Bokashi; iv) group with 15% EM-Bokashi; v) group with 20% EM-Bokashi. All plants treated with EM-Bokashi showed a significant increase in the agronomic parameters analysed compared to the untreated control. The results show that the addition of Bokashi to the growing medium of Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana can improve plant quality, in particular agronomic and physiological characteristics and increased nutrient and water uptake. The analytical results lead to the following conclusions: i) the addition of already 5% Bokashi to the growing medium can bring significant improvements to the cultivation of Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana; ii) significant improvements in terms of plant and root biomass will stabilise for amounts of Bokashi in excess of 10% in the substrate; iii) EM-Bokashi significantly improves plant nutrient and water uptake; iv) plants treated with Bokashi photosynthesize and have a higher chlorophyll content and are more efficient in the use of water; v) the qualitative and physiological improvement of plants is probably determined by the presence of beneficial bacteria in the Bokashi soil conditioner, which stimulate plants and increase nutrient uptake.

Two bed media were tested (gravel and Filtralite) in shallow horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) constructed wetlands in order to evaluate the removal of ammonia and nitrate for different types of wastewater (acetate-based and domestic wastewater) and different COD/N ratios. The use of Filtralite allowed both higher mass removal rates (1.1 g NH4–N m2 d1 and 3 g NO3–N m2 d1) and removal efficiencies (>62% for ammonia, 90–100% for nitrate), in less than 2 weeks, when compared to the ones observed with gravel. The COD/N ratio seems to have no significant influence on nitrate removal and the removal of both ammonia and nitrate seems to have involved not only the conventional pathways of nitrification–denitrification. The nitrogen loading rate of both ammonia (0.8–2.4 g NH4–N m2 d1) and nitrate (0.6–3.2 g NO3–N m2 d1) seem to have influenced the respective removal rates.

En el presente trabajo se obtuvo biofertilizantes sólidos a partir de la fermentación anaeróbica de excretas de ganado vacuno provenientes de la empresa agropecuaria “Los Luises” S.R.L., ubicada en el Tablazo, Distrito de Huanchaco, Provincia de Trujillo, Región La Libertad, Perú.
El biofertilizante sólido obtenido contiene nutrientes primarios (NPK) con un grado de (5.53% - 2.96% – 3.74%), lo que se concluye que es posible tratar las excretas de ganado vacuno.
El medio anaeróbico consistió en un biorreactor semicontinuo “modelo hindú modificado con cúpula flotante” de 588 litros de capacidad, convirtió las excretas en un fertilizante de óptima calidad.
La temperatura promedio en el biorreactor fue de 24 °C
Se obtuvo en el biorreactor anaeróbico como subproducto biogás en los siguientes volúmenes de 24.16 L, 35.14 L, 48.80 L, 44.46 L, 70.98 L, 88.21 L para un Tiempo de Retención Hidráulica (TRH) de 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 y 28 días respectivamente.
El pH promedio de entrada fue de 6.70 y el de salida en el biodigestor estuvo en el rango de 7.10.
Se demostró la posibilidad de tratar a las excretas con eficiencias de remoción de 60.5 % para la DQO y 80.1 % para la DBO5.
La conductividad eléctrica en el biofertilizante se incrementó en un 12.42 %, de 10.88 dS/m a 12.24 dS/m a los 28 días de retención hidráulica
Se logró una remoción del 98.1 por 100 de coliformes totales.
Palabras claves: Biorreactor, biofertilizante sólido, excretas

The management of Orobanche under the infested field condition is very difficult to achieve because of its micro sized seed, high fecundity and asynchronous germination. Thus an attempt was made to evaluate native AMF isolates against Orobanche emergence in tomato. The experiment was carried out in Orobanche infested soils of Belagavi district during 2018-19. During the investigation different methods of application of mycorrhizal biofertilizer were screened for their ability to suppress of Orobanche i.e. (planting of pre mycorrhized seedling; soil application and the combination of both). The results of the present investigations with respect different methods of applications of mycorrhizal biofertilizer on Orobanche emergence has revealed that planting of pre colonized tomato seedling with mycorrhizal biofertilizer plus soil application of mycorrhizal biofertilizer at the time of planting suppressed the Orobanche emergence (0.00 plot-1), followed by planting of pre colonized seedlings with mycorrhizal biofertilizer (1.44 plot-1) and direct soil application of mycorrhizal biofertilizer at the time of planting (4.66 plot-1) compared to un inoculated control (9.66 plot-1) at 90 DAP. Furthermore, mycorrhizal parameters like spore count and per cent of root colonization were found to be the highest in the plots received mycorrhization in the form of pre colonization followed by pre colonization pulse soil application and direct soil application. However the least number of mycorrhizal spore counts and percent root colonization were observed in the rhizosphere of non mycorrhized tomato plants. Hence the present investigation will form a suitable biotic tool against Orobanche in tomato.

Inoculation of Blue-green algae-alagalization commonly reported as a safe agro ecosystem to contribute in economic feasibility in paddy habitat, minimise cost and energy inputs. Some of additional researches of algalization or BGA with soils carried out in India and, various other countries have shown advantageous effects on productivity. Modern increasing trend of population is the only way to assuse production potential of agriculture adopting through improved agricultural practice and high yielding varieties of crops and use of fertilizers in agro fields with the optimum use of pesticides and other required materials. Algalization is being followed in various states such as Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra. Algalization is also being utilized in United States of Soviet Republic, Philippines, Egypt, and China. Biotechnology Department of Govt. of India has introduce four major centers in the growing areas of paddy fields of the country to accelerate and extension of work in the field of algal bio fertilizer in 1990. The programme was launched in Lukhnow (UP), Calcutta (West Bengal), Madurai (Tamil Nadu) and New Delhi under technology development and presentation programmes on Cyanobacterial biofertilizer with the objective of i) to provide low cost locally used technology for large production of BGA, ii) to isolate better and fast growing N2-fixing strains, iii) to demonstrate the farmers in the field, iv) to develop starter inoculums and v) to study both ecology and economy benefits. The result of study of algal biofertlizer has been reported very useful for the formers of small and marginalised group of India.

Two field trails were conducted during two successive seasons 2005-2006 on mango trees cv. P'PSukariP' Pgrown in a private orchard situated at Balteem, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Egypt. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different fertilization sources and their combination to improve the fruit yield and quality characters of mango fruits cv. Sukari as well as encourage the use of organic and biofertilizer rather than mineral fertilizer. The results indicated that treatment with 0.5Min.+ Org.+ Bio. (Azotobacter chroococcum strain EB2) and Org. + Bio. (Azotobacter chroococcum strain EB2) gave the highest  concerning yield values and most physical characteristics of mango fruits such as fruit weight, fruit firmness and peel thickness as compared with the other treatments and control. On the other hand treatment Org. +Bio. (Azotobacter chroococcum strain EB2) improved the chemical characters and gave the highest values among all treatments for total sugars (%), TSS (%), Vitamin C and lowest value in total acidity(%) specially in the second season as compared with the other treatments and control. The application of these results may be help in reducing the effect of environmental pollution.

Adada site reconnaissance visit on 19th Septemebr,2020 located at Uzo-Uwani local government area, Nkpologwu Area, Enugu state, Nigeria soils profile suitable for ginger cultivation from the site visit (see section two plates 1-4) with a landmass area of 1850 hectares and soil sample was collected for preliminary laboratory analyses. The decision to plant ginger at the location is a function of the ginger agronomic soil physiology parameter for ginger cultivation. Adani site soil
the profile is waterlogged and will require erosion and drainage management for ginger cultivation, see section two, plates 6 and 7 respectively.
Soils:  Adada soil falls into the category of the interior zone of laterite soil is a red tropical soil -a reddish mixture of clayey iron and aluminum oxides and hydroxides formed by the weathering of basalt under humid, tropical conditions. Laterite is a dense, porous, iron-bearing soil that can be quarried like stone and capable of withstanding intensive development. This is also the soil type found at the project site.
Vegetation: The vegetation in Enugu state lies in two main vegetation zones: The Woodland and
Tall Grass Savannah and the Rain Forest. Most common, are dumps of 20 feet tall trees commonly
isoberline, locust bean, Shea butter, almond tree and oil bean trees that lose their leaves in the dry season and elephant trees covered the plains between the trees.
Added Value - Value co-creation and service science in agriculture with the application of
environmental and agriculture biotechnology to Adada and Adani sites for crop cultivation.
Agribusiness Strategy - The development of Adada Agro-Corridor (section six).
Organization - Ensure clients organizations are resilient for value stream creation.
Capability Building - Our capability-building team provides customized learning experiences led by experts who combine deep domain knowledge with real-world perspectives and innovations.
Sustainable agricultural intensification - Develop food security policies for resilient and productive agricultural systems, agroecology/corridor development for sustainable agriculture.
Agro Corridor – Agriculture facilities, value chain development, credit schemes, especially for smallholders and agro-dealers powered by agro-ecology sustainable agricultural intensification by easing farmers' access to regional and international markets and deployment of climate-smart agriculture. A strategy, incentives are provided to promote diversified agro-industries based on local agricultural production for export and food security. Converged academia, government and
industries to commercial doctoral research outcome to create wealth.
Smart agriculture - Smart agriculture using data on likely crop output where farmers can more
effectively utilize organic farm inputs (biofertilizer, biopesticide, bioherbicide, and post-harvest) improves soil health and quality www.aratibiotech.com.There is no better time than now to
strengthen farmer ecosystems. Advancements in technology can facilitate data-driven agriculture
digitization, driven by four disruptors:
i. Rise in data volumes, computational power, and connectivity, especially new low-power
wide-area networks www.huetzmobile.com ;
ii. The emergence of analytics and business-intelligence capabilities via artificial
intelligence;
iii. New forms of human-machine interaction such as augmented-reality systems and internet of things (IoT) ; and
iv. Improvements in transferring digital instructions to the physical world, such as advanced robotics.
v. Adada livestock and organic agriculture training institute (proposed).

Keywords:
Livestock, Ginger, Biofertilizer, Organic Ginger, Nigeria, ADADA Cattle Ranch, Survey Report, Agro Corridor, Agriculture,
Agribusiness Strategy, Vegetation, Soil

Biofertilizers are also being used to help farmers change their fortunes. In several developed countries, it has proved to be a promising technology, however in developing countries; the use of bioinoculants is limited by a number of factors. Scientific understanding of bioinoculants and their use can pave the way for their successful application. A biofertilizer is a material that includes living microorganisms that colonise the rhizosphere or the interior of the plant when added to plants, plant surfaces, or soil, and foster growth by growing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant. Biofertilizers provide nutrients to plants by natural processes such as nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, and the production of growth-promoting compounds. Biofertilizers use microorganisms to maintain the soil's natural nitrogen balance and increase soil organic matter. Good plants may be cultivated through the use of biofertilizers while still improving the soil's sustainability and protection. Biofertilizers would likely limit the usage of conventional fertilizers and chemicals, but they will not be able to completely eliminate them. Plant-growth enhancing rhizobacteria is a preferred scientific name for these helpful bacteria since they perform several functions (PGPR).

In this paper, I will be studying the demand and production of chemical as well as organic fertilizers in India. Based on that, I will study the import and export activity along with the governing policies and prerequisite legalizations. Combining this information with the speculations of researchers and traders, I will present the scope, challenges and the need for organic fertilizers in India. I will also propose measures that can be taken to reduce the challenges and make the use of organic fertilizers more efficient.

The aim of this study was to investigate the biochemical responses in three earthworm species, Eudrilus eugeniae, Perionyx ceylanensis and Perionyx excavatus induced by exposure to pesticide (carbaryl) and metal (lead) in soil. Earthworms were exposed to increasing concentrations of carbaryl (12, 25 and 50 mg kg −1) and Pb (75, 150 and 300 mg kg −1) in the soil for different periods of time and the biochemical changes were determined. The protein content was slightly increased in E. eugeniae, P. ceylanensis when exposed to the lower concentration of Pb (75 mg kg−1). But decreased protein content was observed in P. excavatus at the higher concentration of carbaryl (50 mg kg−1), and with exposure to 300 mg kg−1 Pb in P. ceylanensis. The changes in the levels of antioxidant enzymes glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were used as functional biomarkers to determine the effect of pesticides and metals on earthworms. Among these, GST exhibited more sensitive response to both carbaryl and Pb as compared to the control. Other antioxidant enzymes showed little variation at the time of exposure. The results of our study suggested that both carbaryl and Pb induced the production of Reactive oxygen species (ROS) by causing oxidative damage to cells. Due to an adaptive response of earthworms in contaminated soils, they could be used as significant biomarkers to asses the toxicity in the environment of the soil ecosystem. This is the first report on the comparative study of antioxidant enzyme activities in three earthworm species under normal and stress induced conditions.

This experiment was conducted to find out the effects of Trichoderma viride on growth and yield of wheat at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Lamjung Campus, Sundarbazar, Lamjung during December 2016 – April 2017. The experiment consisted of seven treatments; (T1: Control; T2: Soil + NPK; T3: Soil inoculated Trichoderma; T4: Trichoderma + FYM; T5: Trichoderma + ½ NPK; T6: Trichoderma + NPK and T7 = Trichoderma + NPK + FYM) laid out in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The results showed that

In Bangladesh/India the availability and affordability of fossil fuel based chemical fertilizers at the farm level have been ensured only through imports and subsidies. Today, biofertilizers have emerged as a highly potent alternative to chemical fertilizers due to their eco-friendly, easy to apply, non-toxic and cost effective nature. Also, they make nutrients that are naturally abundant in soil or atmosphere, usable for plants and act as supplements to agrochemicals. In addition, they are a product that is likely to be commercially promising in the long run once information becomes available adequately to producers and farmers through experience and communication. In Bangladesh/India, government has been trying to increase the application of bio fertilizers along with modern agrochemicals. This paper underlines the success/failure issues in Bangladesh/Indian context and for its future in Bangladesh/India emphasizes the need for high degree of innovation and active participation in scientific research and development, public awareness programmes to enhance the extra-potential of sustainable agriculture development as well as encouraging private organization and policy makers to take interest in this field.

Biofertilizer, the microbial inoculant is an eco-friendly alternative to chemical fertilizer, protects lithosphere, improves biosphere by protecting air, water, soil pollution, and eutrophication and enhances yields of agriculture produce. It helps to enrich the soil with macro-and micro-nutrient and also by releasing plant growth regulators. The main nutrients required by plants are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The microbial inoculants of biofertilizers enhance plant growth and yields by secreting siderophores, antibiotics, enzymes, antifungal, and antibacterial substances and/or by releasing the hormones and overcoming disease and stress. Biofertilizers are classified as N-fixing, phosphate solubilizing, phosphate mobilizing, potassium solubilizing, potassium mobilizing, and sulfur oxidizing. The first commercial outbreak of biofertilizer is launch of "Nitragin" in 1895. For the preparation of biofertilizer, microbes need to be mass-cultivated, maintaining culture pH, temperature, and the cell count. To deliver and proper efficacy of biofertilizer, it requires a suitable carrier material. In future, focus should be made to create mutant and genetically engineered microbes as biofertilizer that has better response compared to wild type as a sustainable solution to agriculture.

The world wide increase in human population raises a big threat to the food security of each people as the land for agriculture is limited and even getting reduced with time. Therefore, it is essential that agricultural productivity should be enhanced significantly within the next few decades to meet the large demand of food by emerging population. Not to mention, too much dependence on chemical fertilizers for more crop productions inevitably damages both environmental ecology and human health with great severity. Exploitation of microbes as biofertilizers is considered to some extent an alternative to chemical fertilizers in agricultural sector due to their extensive potentiality in enhancing crop production and food safety. It has been observed that some microorganisms including plant growth promoting bacteria, fungi, Cyanobacteria, etc. have showed biofertilizer-like activities in the agricultural sector. Extensive works on biofertilizers have revealed their capability of providing required nutrients to the crop in sufficient amounts that resulted in the enhancement of crop. There are 17 essential elements required for proper growth and development of the plant. Among them, nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) are needed in relatively large quantities. Several microorganisms are commonly used as biofertilizers including nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria and cyanobacteria, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, used along with the combination of molds and fungi. Similarly, phytohormone producing bacteria are also used in biofertilizer formulation. They provide the growth-promoting substances like indole acetic acid (IAA), amino acids, and vitamins to the plant and improve the productivity and fertility of the soil while maintaining the crop yield. The present review elucidates various mechanisms that have been exerted by biofertilizers in order to promote plant growth and also provides protection against different plant pathogens. The aim of this review is to discuss the important roles and applications of biofertilizers in different sectors including agriculture, bioremediation, and especially for Sustainable Agriculture & Ecology.

Chemical fertilizers are used in large-scale throughout the globe to satisfy the food and feed requirement of the world. Demanding cropping with the enhanced application of chemical fertilizers, linked with a decline in the recycling of natural or other waste materials, has led to a decrease in the organic carbon levels in soils, impaired soil physical properties and shrinking soil microbial biodiversity. Sustenance and improvement of soil fertility are fundamental for comprehensive food security and ecological sustainability. To feed the large-scale growing population, the role of biofertilizers and their study tends to be an essential aspect globally. In this review, we have emphasized the nitrogen-fixing plants of Sesbania species. It is a plant that is able to accumulate nitrogen-rich biomass and used as a green manure, which help in soil amelioration. Problems of soil infertility due to salinity, alkalinity and waterlogging could be alleviated through the use of biologically fixed nitrogen by Sesbania plants leading to the conversion of futile land into a fertile one. A group of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria termed as “rhizobia” are able to nodulate a variety of legumes including Sesbania. The host-specific rhizobial strains can be used as potential alternative for nitrogenous fertilizers as they help the host plant in growth and development and enhance their endurance under stressed conditions. The review gives the depth understanding of how the agriculturally important microorganisms can be used for the reduction of broad-scale application of chemical fertilizers with special attention to Sesbania-nodulating rhizobia.

Since early human history and existence energy rich plants, wood and forest cellulosic material have been used for fire, light, heating, cooking and other daily activities. Fossil energy was the foundation of our modern society and industrialization since last two centuries, while exploration and exploitation of oil reserves and petrochemistry have largely shaped 20th century. Increasing concerns on environmental pollution, accelerated global warming, and global climate changes, continuing world's crude oil (fossil fuels) consumption and depletion, as well as energy security and energy crisis caused by daily burning large amounts of fossil fuels, led to the attraction, search and development of renewable, carbon-neutral, economically viable alternative energy sources, such as biofuels, slowly displacing petroleum fuels. In continuously growing human population reaching about 10 billion in 2050, various renewable energy sources are promoted and developed, to ensure rising energy demands in a world running out of fossil energy sources. Biofuels are produced from any kind of available biomass and categorized based on utilized carbon resources into first-, second-and third-generation. Nevertheless, biofuels' future outlook is though beset by uncertainty. Hereby, various issues and concerns related to fossils and renewable biofuels are described and analyzed in present review article.

One of the major issues facing humankind is global food security. A changing climate, coupled with a heightened consumer awareness of how food is produced and legislative changes governing the usage of agrichemicals for improving plant health and yield, means that alternative, more integrated and sustainable approaches are needed for crop management practices. To this end, there is increasing recognition of the value of the role of microbial inoculants in agriculture. The focus of this review is to understand how plant-growth-promoting bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can play a part in improving crop yield by promoting the health status of the plant through the sequestration of various nutrients and in the control of plant diseases.

Soil acts as a sink for a number of organic and inorganic pollutants, through which these enter into the food chain and become a potential source of human diseases. Heavy metal (Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn) and metalloid (As, Sb) contamination of soil resources is increasing due to natural and anthropogenic activities. Currently, metal(loid) accumulation is one of the most serious environmental concerns owing to their toxicity to crops. Agronomic crops, mainly cereals (wheat, Triticum aestivum; maize, Zea mays; rice, Oryza sativa), are cultivated on large area and, thereby, are more vulnerable to metal(loid) toxicity, affecting crop growth (seed germination, root/shoot length, and biomass), physiology (water relation, pigmentation, photosynthetic machinery), and metabolic processes (reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, protein degradation). However, to counter these anomalies, crops are equipped with antioxidants (CAT, POD, SOD, APX, GR, proline, phenolics) to detoxify metal-induced ROS and proteins (phytochelatins, PCs; metallothioneins, MTs) to sequester metal(loid)s. Thus, further insight into these processes is important to exploit better metal-contaminated areas for raising crops, generate revenue, and feed ever-increasing population. Therefore, we present an overview of heavy metal(loid) pollution in soil; their toxicity to cereals (wheat, maize, rice) at morphological, physiological, and cellular levels; and their tolerance mechanisms. At the end, we explore the symbiotic association of cereal crops to a microbe in scavenging metal toxicity.

Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) popularly known as egg plant belongs to family Solanaceae and India is its center of origin and diversity. It is highly productive and usually finds a place as " poor man's crop ". The growth, yield and fruit quality of brinjal are largely dependent on number of interacting factors. On the other hand egg plant is a long duration crop with high yield which removes large quantities of nutrients from the soil. An eggplant crop yielding 60t ha-1 of fruit removes 190 kg N, 10.9 kg P and 12 8kg K from soil. Now-a-days demands for brinjal as a fruit vegetable is increasing rapidly among the vegetable consumers in view of its better fruit color, size and taste only one source of nutrients like chemical fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers cannot improve the production or maintain the production sustainability and soil health. The integrated nutrient management is very useful in this context. Integrated plant nutrient management is the intelligent use of optimum combination of organic, inorganic and biological nutrient sources in a specific crop, cropping system and climatic situation so as to achieve and to sustain the optimum yield and to improve or to maintain the soil's physical, biological and chemical properties. Such a crop nutrition package has to be technically sound, economically attractive, practically feasible and environmentally safe.

EL GRAN RETO DEL AGRICULTOR


PRESENTACIÓN


La agricultura moderna, precisa de cambios sustanciales y profundos, ideas creativas que permitan una producción acorde con las realidades de nuestro país. No necesariamente debe existir una incompatibilidad entre la tecnología que se usa con el medio ambiente, para poder entregar alimentos saludables en las cantidades y calidades que el mundo los necesita.

El objetivo del presente manual de información técnica, es demostrar a los profesionales, agricultores y estudiantes, que para el nuevo milenio, con tecnologías desarrolladas en nuestro medio se pueden producir cosechas con altos rendimientos, cuidando el suelo, el medio ambiente y por supuesto la salud integral de los consumidores, al entregárseles alimentos sanos, nutritivos y de la mejor calidad posible.

Con el paso de los años, la buena costumbre de preguntar e investigar, permite desarrollar nuevas y mejores tecnologías, para un mundo exigente y cambiante.  El saber por qué, cómo funcionan las cosas nos ayuda a eliminar las pérdidas de tiempo, energía y materiales, recordándonos que siempre: debe existir una mejor manera de hacerlo.

Esperando que el presente manual se convierta en un texto de consulta para quienes están vinculados directa o indirectamente con las actividades agropecuarias, aspirando a recibir de todos ustedes los respectivos comentarios, los mismos que permitirán aún más el mejorar y desarrollar esta nueva tecnología que es la: Fertilización Bioquímica, la que consiste en el desplazamiento de los iones (aniones y cationes) disponibles en forma de radicales de las distintas sales orgánicas e inorgánicas asimilables para la correcta nutrición de las plantas.


Atentamente:

• Diego F. Granja Ruales M.h.Sc.
Investigación & Desarrollo
FERBIOHUX DEL ECUADOR S.A.
07-1986 / 01 - 2015

Sustainable agriculture has become a burning issue due to “energy crisis” and
“environmental protection”. One aspect of sustainable agriculture is Integrated Nutrient
Management (INM). Many regions in India like Kashmir, Himachal and other hilly
regions have huge potential for quality flower production. Since floriculture is energy and
cost intensive type of farming, the input cost of fertilisers is very high, which can be
avoided by going for alternative methods like INM. There is scant information available
concerning the use of organic fertilizer as the sole source of nutrients in flower production,
especially in the cultivation of flowers has made its applicability more difficult. INM is a
practice that is being rapidly adopted by growers, combines the use of adjusted nutrient
rates, more efficient fertilizer sources, organic matter and soil inoculation. INM holds great
promise in exhibiting the growing nutrient demands of intensive farming like Floriculture
and maintaining productivity at its optimum with holistic improvement in the quality of
resource base, which is very much important in-case of cut and bulbous flowers.
Investigations by many researchers have revealed the beneficial influence of INM, on
vegetative (plant height, leaf area, leaf number), floral (first bud appearance, floral
diameter, weight of flower) and yield attributes (seed weight, seed production) of many
flower crops, reduced the cost of fertilizer inputs and increased the B/C ratio, despite
maintaining a good soil physico-chemical environment. It can be concluded that by
reducing the levels of chemical fertilizer and optimizing the dose of different organic
fertilizer can improve yield and quality in ornamental crops without adversely affecting the
edaphic and environmental features. Therefore this discourse will mainly discuss on the
integrative approaches on production and management of many flower crops,
commercially grown in India and Kashmir valley.

Scientific intervention including improvement of genetic architecture, precise
crop production technologies, accurate protection technologies and need based
nutrients management in the crop production has changed the phenology and
productivity of domesticated plant species. Significance of the improved genetic
architecture of the wheat and nutrient management ushered green revolution in the
late sixties of the last century. Success of the green revolution led farmers to use more
and more chemical fertilizers in the agriculture. Injudicious use of chemical fertilizers
in soil nutrient management has caused irreversible damage to the soil, water and
environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to device a technology which can
minimize the use of chemical fertilizers and overcome hazardous effect of chemicals
without compromising production. Organic amendments like farm yard manure,
composted urban waste, vermicompost etc. are conventional and excellent source of
nutrients; however, all these are in short supply. Biofertilizers offers alternatives of
conventional as well as chemical source of nutrients. However, there is a wide gap in
the prosperity and popularity of biofertilizers which need to address properly.

Agricultural and livestock/slaughterhouse wastes are produced in huge quantities and could be promising sources for electricity generation to partially reduce dependence on fossil-oriented electricity. In light of that, the state of the production for these wastes in different parts of the globe was first presented. Subsequently, various waste-to-energy technologies and their electricity generation feasibility from both environmental and economic perspectives were reviewed. Finally, electricity generation and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potentials through anaerobic digestion of the above-mentioned wastes generated in each province of Iran in 2016 were investigated as a case study. Accordingly, Khuzestan province with the highest amount of agro-wastes (7.61 million tons) and Sistan and Baluchestan province with the highest amount of livestock/slaughterhouse wastes (10.69 million tons) had the maximum electricity generation potentials of 82.83 MW and 164.23 MW, respectively. Moreover, the country's total potentials for electricity generation from these wastes was determined at 2848.26 MW. Based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) results, a minimum of 10,693.5 thousand tons CO 2 eq/yr could be avoided by valorizing these wastes into electricity in Iran. This would be translated into 1.5% reduction of Iran's annual GHG emissions; a promising achievement given Iran's international GHGs reduction commitment. Moreover, if a short-term time horizon would be considered for electricity generation from these wastes, the reduction rate could reach 24,153 thousand tons CO 2 eq/yr, i.e., 3.39% reduction of Iran's annual GHG emissions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report scrutinizing electricity generation potentials from both agricultural and livestock/slaughterhouse wastes in Iran while assessing the consequent GHG emission reduction potentials. The outcomes of the study could assist policy makers with decisions aimed at taking advantage of these resources while the platform introduced pave the way for other researchers to conduct similar studies in different parts of the world.

Traditionally, the soil biology was considered the most vital component of food production systems. However, excessive use of inorganic chemicals and toxic substances impaired the biological processes and ecological pathways in soils. So, because of a quest to extract maximum yields, the soil biology is spoiled to distress levels. Microbial biofertilizers are known to recover the soil biology and sustainability of agroecosystems. Having a forestry by-product carrier, Earth Alive Soil Activator® is an established biofertilizer suitable for tropical and temperate geoclimatic conditions. It contains three non-genetically modified bacteria (Pseudomonas monteilii, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens). Laboratory experiments (‘mode of action’ method) were conducted to gauge the agroecological performance of all three bacteria present in Soil Activator®. Phosphorus solubilization, nitrogen fixation, soil moisture retention, and plant nutrients uptake were tested as novel factors of Pseudomonas monteilii bacterium and as synergistic effects of all three bacteria. Based on largely a review, this paper discusses the agroecological performance of Pseudomonas monteilii bacterium. The results of the experiments demonstrate that level of phosphorus, nitrogen and various nutrients has increased following the
application of the Soil Activator® containing Pseudomonas monteilii. Soil moisture retention has also increased up to 4.9 percent. In the soil, P. monteilii produces siderophores that chelate unavailable iron to increase iron uptake in plants. By using this bacterium through Soil Activator®, not only the yields of crops increase but the ecological functions of soil also recover, apart from safeguarding human health considerably.

Pupuk adalah suatu bahan yang digunakan untuk memperbaiki kesuburan tanah. Di Indonesia, masih banyak hutan lebat yang tumbuh dengan subur tanpa dipupuk, sedangkan tanaman yang dibudidayakan perlu dilakukan pemupukan. Hal ini dikarenakan dalam alam yang bebas dari pengaruh manusia, perkembangan tanaman seimbang dengan pelapukan batuan dan sisa-sisa organisme. Akan tetapi, dengan usaha pertanian yang dilakukan manusia ini, maka proses penghanyutan dan pencucian zat hara yang hilang dari tanah menjadi semakin besar. Efisiensi pemupukan merupakan hal yang sangat penting bagi pelaku usaha pertanian, mengingat tingkat kehilangan yang tinggi akibat proses-proses dalam tanah (aliran pemupukan, pencucian, evaporasi, fiksasi, dan imobilisasi). Dengan kecenderungan semakin tingginya biaya produksi pupuk urea sebagai akibat menipisnya ketersediaan serta meningkatknya harga bahan gas alam (bahan baku pabrik urea), serta meningkatnya kesadaran manusia akan isu lingkungan, maka penggunaan pupuk sintetik secara perlahan akan diminimalkan dan ditingkatkan ke penggunaan pupuk yang ramah lingkungan dan bersumber dari bahan baku terbaharui (renewable resources) seperti pupuk hayati (Hardjowigeno, S., 2010; Saraswati, R., 2012).
Pupuk hayati (biofertilizer) adalah pupuk yang mengandung inokulan berbahan aktif organisme hidup, yaitu mikroba yang menguraikan atau mengikat unsur hara sehingga unsur hara tersebut dapat tersedia dalam tanah dan dimanfaatkan oleh tanaman (Sumihar, S.T.T., 2012). Perlindungan terhadap mikroogranisme dalam ekosistem pertanian sangat penting bagi keberlanjutan sistem produksi pertanian. Dengan berbagai dampak positif yang timbul dari pemanfaatan pupuk hayati dan komitmen yang tinggi dalam meningkatkan kelestarian lahan akan menyelamatkan ekosistem dan mampu menopang kehidupan manusia. Pengelolaan sistem produksi pertanian secara terpadu, intensif dan berkelanjutan melalui aplikasi pupuk hayati yang bermutu unggul dapat meningkatkan efisiensi pemupukan, penghematan biaya pupuk, tenaga kerja, pendapatan petani, produktivitas pertanian serta kelestarian lahan pertanian (Saraswati, R., 2012).

The co-application of biochar and inorganic N fertilizer has been shown to be a sustainable and environmental friendly technology for the improvement of soil fertility and crop yield. However, their interactive effects on nutrient availability and rain-fed rice productivity in contrasting soil types in the tropics have been scarcely studied. A field study was set up to investigate the effects of rice husk biochar and N-fertilizer applications at different rates on rain-fed rice yield and soil nutrient distribution in the 0-20 cm soil layer. Biochar was applied at four rates; 0, 3, 6, and 12 t/ha −1 , in combination with N fertilizer (urea) applied at four rates; 0, 30, 60 and 90 kg/ha −1 to two different soil types (sandy clay loam Oxic-Paleustalf and sandy loam Oxic-Paleustult). In the Oxic-Paleustaif, biochar × N-fertilizer interaction significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced rain-fed rice yield and yield components such as number of panicles/m 2 by 71%, filled spikelet (%) by 24%, grain yield (t/ha −1) by 78%, straw yield (t/ha −1) by 74% and 1000 grain weight (g) by 16% when compared to the control. In the Oxic-Paleustult, interaction between biochar and N-fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) increased number of panicles/ m 2 by 73%, filled spikelet (%) by 24%, grain yield (t/ha −1) by 83%, straw yield (t/ha 1) by 68% and 1000 grain weight (g) by 13% in the when compared to the control. Leaching of soil nitrate (NO 3-N) was mostly reduced in the Oxic-Paleustalf, while soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available P and K content at the soil depth of 0-10 cm were significantly (p < 0.05) increased in both soil types. The result from this study suggest that biochar amendment and N fertilization have the potential to enhance rain-fed rice productivity and soil nutrient availability, while minimizing nitrate (NO 3-N) leaching.