Biofertilizer: The Future of Food Security and Food Safety

Abstract

There is a direct correlation between population growth and food demand. As the global population continues to rise, there is a need to scale up food production to meet the food demand of the population. In addition, the arable land over time has lost its naturally endowed nutrients. Hence, alternative measures such as fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are used to fortify the soil and scale up the production rate. As efforts are being made to meet this food demand and ensure food security, it is equally important to ensure food safety for consumption. Food safety measures need to be put in place throughout the food production chain lines. One of the fundamental measures is the use of biofertilizers or plant growth promoters instead of chemical or synthesized fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that poise several dangers to human and animal health. Biofertilizers competitively colonize plant root systems, which, in turn, enhance nutrient uptake, increase productivity and crop yield, improve plants’ tolerance to stress and their resistance to pathogens, and improve plant growth through mechanisms such as the mobilization of essential elements, nutrients, and plant growth hormones. Biofertilizers are cost-effective and ecofriendly in nature, and their continuous usage enhances soil fertility. They also increase crop yield by up to about 10–40% by increasing protein contents, essential amino acids, and vitamins, and by nitrogen fixation. This review therefore highlighted different types of biofertilizers and the mechanisms by which they elicit their function to enhance crop yield to meet food demand. In addition, the review also addressed the role of microorganisms in promoting plant growth and the various organisms that are beneficial for enhancing plant growth.

Technology package of land preparation with solarization and biofertilizer on chili

“…Repeated solarization loops combined with bio fumigation could also suppress soil-borne pathogens and weeds, and lead to increased tomatoes yield [20]. It took two weeks for each solarization season to produce an adequate temperature profile to inactivate various pathogens [21].…”

Screening and fermentation medium optimization of a strain favorable to Rice–fish Coculture

“…Some studies have shown that the pesticides and fertilizers used in rice cultivation seriously harm the water environment, leaving large amounts of harmful substances in the ecosystem, as well as inducing eutrophication, which can be eliminated to some extent through microbial metabolism (Kong et al, 2022). On the other hand, some strains also settle into the soil, and these microorganisms undertake several important ecosystem functions including soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, helping to alleviate problems such as reduced soil fertility and soil consolidation caused by rice cultivation (Daniel et al, 2022). The microorganisms that settle into the soil not only improve the soil environment, but a proportion of the bacteria also act as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to contribute directly or indirectly to the growth and health effects of rice (Bhattacharyya and Jha, 2012;Hacquard et al, 2015).…”

Rediscovering wild food to diversify production across Australia's agricultural landscapes

“…Not only do organic fertilisers reduce the demand for fossil fuels, but they also improve soil structure and have been shown to strongly increase the abundance and diversity of nematodes Puissant et al, 2021. Animal manure has been shown to reduce soil bulk density and increase the infiltration and holding capacity of water (Rayne and Aula, 2020). While biofertilisers are microbial inoculations to soil that help to make existing nutrients available for plant uptake (Daniel et al, 2022).…”