he fertilizers are used to improve the fertility of the land using biological wastes, hence the term bio

fertilizers, and biological wastes do not contain any chemicals which are detrimental to the living soil. They are extremely beneficial in enriching the soil with those micro-organisms, which produce organic nutrients for the soil and help combat diseases. The major bio fertilizers are: Azospirillum It fixes the atmospheric nitrogen in the root areas of the crop. It helps in easy assimilation of nitrogen and helps in the growth of the crop. This can be used for all crops. Like azotobacter, azospirillum species also do not form root nodules or associate with leguminous crops. They are however not free-living and live inside plant roots where they fix nitrogen, and can be used in wetland conditions. This group of microorganisms also produce beneficial substances for plant growth, besides fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Azospirillum does well in soils with organic matter and moisture content, and requires a pH level of above 6.0; Acetobacter This is a bio fertilizer that is essentially used for sugarcane crop only. This is referred to in Tamil Nadu as Karuppu Urea or Blackurea. Azotobacter is also a group of nitrogen-fixing bacteria but unlike rhizobia, they do not form root nodules or associate with leguminous crops. They are free-living nitrogen fixers and can be used for all types of upland crops but cannot survive in wetland conditions. In soils of poor fertility and organic matter, azotobacter need to be regularly applied. In addition to nitrogen-fixation, they also produce beneficial growth substances and beneficial antibiotics that help control root diseases. Phospobacteria This converts insoluble forms of phosphate into soluble form for quick absorption by the plants. Their importance lies in the fact that barely a third of phosphorous in the soil is actually available to the crop as the rest is insoluble. They require sufficient organic matter in the soil to be of any great benefit.This can be used for all crops. Rhizobium This is used only for leguminous crops. The species Rhizobium leguminosarum can be used in the cultivation of all dicot plants like, pigeon peas (thoor), blackgram (urad), cowpea, greenmung beans, chickpeas, soyabeans, groundnut, etc. Rhizobia is a group of bacteria that fixes nitrogen in association with the roots of leguminous crops. Rhizobia can fix 40-120 kgs. of nitrogen per acre annually depending upon the crop, rhizobium species and environmental conditions. They help improve soil fertility, plant nutrition and plant growth and have no negative effect on soil or the environment. Every leguminous crop requires a specific rhizobium species; Tricoderma - It is a non- pathogenic and eco-friendly product. The product is antagonistic hyper parasitic against different pathogens in the field and economically well established biocontrol agent; Composter - (Decomposing Culture): Composter breaks down any organic matter such as dead plants farm yard waste, cattle waste etc. thereby increasing the soil productivity; Trico-card - Trichogramma is an efficient destroyer of eggs of many leaf and flower eaters, stems, fruit, shoot borers etc. It can be used in a variety of crops as well as in horticultural and ornamental plants,such as sugarcane, cotton, brinjal, tomato, corn, jawar, vegetables, citrus, paddy, etc.; Bio-compost - It is eco-friendly organic fertilizer which is prepared from the sugar industry waste material which is decomposed and enriched of with various plants and human friendly bacteria and fungi. Biocompost consists of nitrogen, phosphate solubilizing bacteria and various useful fungi like decomposing fungi, trichoderma viridea which protects the plants from various soil borne disease and also help to increase soil fertility which results to a good quality product to the farmers. With the integration of these bio fertilizers into the soil (depending on the crop under cultivation) the soil gets enriched and this leads to larger harvest of produce for the farmer. The soil too gets enriched as these micro organisms continue to increase the humus value of the top soil.