Formulated Biofertilizer—An Effective Approach to Improve Growth and Nutrient Uptake in Crops: A Systemic Review

Abstract

An alternative to mineral fertilizers is the biofertilizers which is one of the important components of integrated nutrient management as these are cost effective and renewable source of plant nutrients to supplement the chemical fertilizers for sustainable agriculture. The use of microorganisms in agriculture as bioinoculant is a very important practice and a growing need too. In spite of countless research, the rate of success is remarkably low. To get success, there is a need to examine this aspect from various different angles apart from conventional approaches. Mostly carrier-based biofertilizers are manufactured in India, using peat, lignite or charcoal as carriers. The adoption level of biofertilizers by farmers remained low, inspite of nearly three decades of existence of biofertilizers in India supported by the government. Many technological, developmental, social issues are responsible for such a low adoption of this technology. Biofertilizers suffer from short shelf life, poor quality, high contamination and low and unpredictable field performances. Death of the organisms in the inoculated seeds is one of the important factors contributing the failure of inoculation response in field condition. Research conducted on the inoculant production and formulation technologies is limited. A break through is needed in the inoculation technology to improve the shelf life and field efficacy of biofertilizer in India to make them commercially viable and acceptable to farmers. The present review was focused on different formulations of microorganisms and their effect on different crops.

Keywords: Bioinoculant, biofertilizer, formulations, nutrient, shelf life

Cite this Article

Yadav A. Formulated Biofertilizer—An Effective Approach to Improve Growth and Nutrient Uptake in Crops: A Systemic Review. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Microbiology and Virology. 2018; 8(2):    43–52p.