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International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/SAgri/27
Microbial biofertilizers: an environmentally friendly approach for sustainable
agriculture in Pakistan

*1
Prof. Dr. Sohail Hameed
1 Department of Biosciences, University of Wah, Wah Cantt, Pakistan

Correspondence: dr.sohail.hameed@uow.edu.pk
Abstract

Plant-microbe interaction i.e., symbiotic association is a well-known phenomenon for many
decades and the farmers have been practicing the cultivation of legume crops to enhance soil
fertility before the sowing of a non-leguminous crop. It was later revealed through scientific
research that the soil bacterium (Brady)rhizobium of the family Rhizobiacae, can enter into the
roots of leguminous plants forming root nodules, where they could convert the inert
atmospheric nitrogen into plant useable form as ammonium ions. The reduced form of nitrogen
in turn is incorporated into amino acids to form proteins, besides being an integral part of DNA,
adenosine phosphates and photosynthesis. Henceforth the nitrogen fixing bacteria result in the
saving of chemical nitrogen fertilizer produced through energy extensive Haber process,
utilizing non-renewable energy sources. The phenomenon of plant growth hormone production
and solubilization of insoluble/ fixed soil phosphorus besides nitrogen fixing property of
rhizobia and later on for plant rhizosphere associated asymbiotic bacteria in the rhizosphere of
non-leguminous plants was also reported and have now been extensively studied. These
bacteria also known as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) showed their significance
in terms of saving in expensive chemical phosphorous fertilizer that is widely being used by
the farmers to obtain higher crop yields. The nodule forming rhizobia and PGPRs termed as
biofertilizers are being considered as natural and environmentally friendly source of macro and
micronutrients and can best be utilized for the food crops of economic importance in terms of
reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. Moreover, besides the properties of nitrogen fixation,
phosphorous solubilization and plant growth hormone production, these biofertilizers exhibit
the property of biocontrol against various pathogens, like the production of antibiotics,
sidrophores etc and are considered against reduced use of pesticides. A comprehensive detail
of research techniques, microbial diversity, biofertilizer production technology and its
application in irrigated, rainfed, and arid regions with temperate and tropical environmental
conditions will be discussed.

Keywords: symbiotic association; bioferlizers; solublisation; PGPR

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

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