Liquid Microbial Consortium- A Potential Tool for Sustainable Soil Health

Abstract

The green revolution brought amazing consequences in food grain production but with insufficient concern for agricultural sustainability. The availability and affordability of fossil fuel based chemical fertilizers at farm level in India have been ensured only through imports and subsidies which are largely dependent on GDP of the country. Dependence on chemicals for future agricultural needs would result in further loss in soil health, possibilities of water contamination and calculated burden on the fiscal system. Indiscriminate synthetic fertilizer usage has polluted the soil, water basins, destroyed microorganisms and eco-friendly insects, made the crop more susceptible to diseases and depleted soil fertility at the primary levels as of today, which is the main concern of the write up. In this critical context Microorganisms have been emerged as the potential alternative for the productivity, reliability and sustainability of the global food chain. Carrier based biofertilzers has already proved to be the best over the agro chemicals and have been showing the tremendous effect on the global agriculture productivity since the past two decades. Rectifying the disadvantages of the carrier based biofertilizers, liquid biofertilizers have been developed which would be the only alternative for the cost effective sustainable agriculture. The article focuses on Liquid Biofertilizer Technology providing reliable reasons for their necessity, specificity and emphasizes that "Use of agriculturally important microorganisms in different combinations i.e. Liquid microbial consortium (LMC) is the only solution for restoration of soil health". Even though biofertilizers are being produced and distributed constantly by private agencies, NGO's, State and Central Government production units for the last three decades, their corresponding usage is not in the satisfactory proportions. To cope with the rising demands for food commodities, serious efforts are being made by the State and Central Governments (under the National Projects) for the sufficient agricultural production by popularizing biofertilizers and making them available to the farmer community. In spite of these efforts, the rate of consumption of biofertilizers is not to the optimum level in comparison with the agrochemicals. The reason attributed is the "non-availability of good and suitable carrier materials" that raises contamination problems and shorter shelf life. To cope with this alarming situation, Liquid formulations (LFs) are being developed that ensure more quality over the conventional carrier based biofertilizers inaugurating a new era in the Biological input technology. These liquid formulations facilitate long shelf life (up to 2 years), minimum contamination, carrier free activity, handling comfort, storage and transport convenience, easy quality control, enhanced export potentials and are preferred by the farmer community as well as manufacturers.

Biofertilizer as Prospective Input for Sustainable Agriculture in India

“…Year wise (2008-09 to 2014-15) production in India has been listed in table 3. Based on crop area in India, the present requirement of biofertilizers is around 5,50,000 metric tonnes and there is an ample potential to increase it to 50,000-60,000 tons by 2020 (Pindi and Satyanarayana, 2012); however, the total production in our country is much less than requirement which points out the inevitability of increase in biofertilizer production. Now, the government of India is boosting the biofertilizer industries by providing subsidies to a maximum of 20 lakh rupees and awarding a national productivity award to the efficient biofertilizer production unit (Borkar, 2015).…”

“…In order to make agriculture sustainable it is necessary to implement a balanced and reasonable use of nutrients which are cost effective and ecofriendly (Venkataraman and Shanmugasundaram, 1992;Mahdi et al, 2010); in that case biofertilizer could be a suitable option (Pindi and Satyanarayana, 2012;Borkar, 2015). Now, the Government of India has also taken a strideto harness the full potential of the available biofertilizers by introducing it along with chemical fertilizers to the farmers (Ghosh, 2004).…”

“…Now, the government of India is boosting the biofertilizer industries by providing subsidies to a maximum of 20 lakh rupees and awarding a national productivity award to the efficient biofertilizer production unit (Borkar, 2015). Agro Industries Corporation has the maximum production capacity which is followed by State Agriculture Departments, National Biofertilizers Development Centers, State Agricultural universities and private sectors (Pindi and Satyanarayana, 2012).…”

Evaluación De La Calidad De Un Abono Líquido Producido Vía Fermentación Homoláctica De Heces De Alpaca

“…The high economic and environmental cost of the use of synthetic fertilizers leads to the search of more viable and sustainable alternatives (Pindi, 2012). This study was aimed at assessing the nutritional quality, enteropathogenic bacterial load and the phytotoxicity of a liquid fertilizer produced from alpaca faeces through the biotechnological process of homolactate fermentation.…”

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ResumenEl alto costo económico y ambiental por el uso de fertilizantes sintéticos conlleva a la búsqueda de alternativas más viables y sostenibles (Pindi, 2012). En este estudio se tuvo como objetivo evaluar la calidad nutricional, carga bacteriana enteropatógena y la fitotoxicidad de un abono líquido producido a partir de heces de alpaca, mediante el proceso biotecnológico de fermentación homoláctica.

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