Bio-fertilizers

• Bio-fertilizers are defined as preparations containing live or latent cells of efficient strains of nitrogen fixing and phosphate solubilizing micro-organism used for inoculation of seed, and application of soil or composting areas with the objectives of increasing the population of such beneficial micro-organisms and accelerate certain microbial processes to augment the extent of the availability of nutrients in a form which can be easily assimilated by plants.
• Bio-fertilizer is a carrier-based product in which live cells of efficient microorganism are mixed in maximum number to increase soil fertility and availability of nutrients to plant through seed treatment or soil application.
• There are various types of bio-fertilizers like Rhizobium, Azotobacter and Azospirillum , Blue green algae (cyanobacteria), Azolla etc. which can fix N and acts as a bio-fertilizer augmenting N in the soil.

Advantages of bio-fertilizers

1. Chemical fertilizers are costly, causing environmental pollution and human health hazards, while bio-fertilizers are eco-friendly, non-toxic and cheaper natural resources.
2. They help in the establishment and growth of crop plants and trees by providing plant nutrients and increase the fertility status of the soil also.
3. They enhance bio-mass production and grain yields by 10-20%.
4. Approximately 25% of chemical fertilizer can be substituted with the use of bio-fertilizer therefore bio-fertilizers are useful for sustainable agriculture.
5. They play an important role in agro-forestry or silvipastoral systems.
6. They protect plants from several fungal diseases by producing fungi static substances.
7. Bio-fertilizers also increase seed germination by producing plant growth substances and hormones.
8. Algal bio-fertilizer can be used for reclamation of sodic saline soil also.
9. They are suitable in organic farming.