Farmers, bio-fertilizers are becoming an extremely important excellent and natural alternative to chemical fertilizers. These fertilizers consist of micro-organisms that help make essential nutrients available to crops. The use of bio-fertilizers improves soil health and reduces production costs.
Usage of Bio-fertilizers 🦠
Bio-fertilizers are mainly used in three ways:
- Seed Treatment:
- Before sowing, seeds are mixed with the bio-fertilizer (e.g., Rhizobium).
- These microbes gather around the seeds and start supplying nutrients to the roots as soon as the plant begins to grow.
- Soil Treatment:
- The bio-fertilizer is mixed with farmyard manure or compost and applied to the soil at the time of planting/sowing.
- This allows the microbes to benefit the crops over a large area of the field.
- Seedling/Root Dipping:
- When transplanting seedlings like Rice, Tomato, or others, the roots are dipped in a bio-fertilizer solution before planting.
- This ensures that the seedlings receive support from the microbes right from the beginning of establishment.
Main Types and Functions of Bio-fertilizers
| Type | Function | Suitable for which crops |
|---|---|---|
| Rhizobium | Fixes atmospheric Nitrogen and stores it in root Nodules. | Pulses (Legumes) e.g., Pigeon pea, Mung bean, Chickpea, Soybean. |
| Azotobacter | Fixes atmospheric Nitrogen and makes it available for cereal crops. | Cereals e.g., Wheat, Sorghum, Millet, as well as Cotton, Sugarcane. |
| PSB (Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria) | Dissolves locked-up Phosphorus in the soil, making it accessible to the crops. |
Benefits of Bio-fertilizers ✅
- Increased Production: Due to the natural supply of nutrients, the yield increases by 10% to 25%.
- Savings on Chemical Fertilizers: The use of bio-fertilizers can reduce the use of chemical Nitrogen and Phosphorus fertilizers by 20% to 40%.
- Soil Health: They improve the soil’s fertility and physical properties, keeping the land productive for the long term.
- Eco-friendly: Since these fertilizers are completely natural, they do not cause environmental pollution.
- Cost-Effective: Bio-fertilizers are available at a lower cost compared to chemical fertilizers.
- Crop Immunity: Some microbes produce necessary hormones (e.g., Auxin) for plant growth, which boosts the crop’s immunity.
