Page 392 - AWSAR 2.0

368 || AWSAR Awarded Popular Science Stories - 2019
Exploiting Microorganisms to Boost Pigeon Pea Production
Mr. Anirban Basu*
Email: anirbanbasu99@gmail.com
Pulses – the versatile food: Can you imagine a traditional Indian meal without a sumptuous serving of ‘dal’ or ‘sambar’?
The answer, of course, is an emphatic ‘No’. Various ‘dal’ or pulses are an integral ingredient of the Indian cuisine. The pulses are incredibly rich in their nutritional value. They are an indispensable and affordable source of supplementary proteins to daily vegetarian diets and are aptly considered as ‘poor man’s meat’. They are also high in dietary fibre, several vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and provide plenty of other health benefits. To promote public awareness of the multifaceted benefits of pulses across the globe, the United Nations had declared 2016 as the ‘International Year of Pulses’. Growing and consuming pulses ensures sustainable
food production with a substantial impact on global food and nutritional security.
Biological nitrogen fixation in pulses and its importance: Compared with other plant sources of proteins, pulses have an enriched protein content, thanks to the beneficial activity of a specific group of nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria known as ‘rhizobia’. Pulses and some other closely related plants develop complex symbiotic associations with rhizobia on the root nodules. Rhizobia convert inert nitrogen gas in the air into reactive nitrogen compounds (mainly ammonia) that can be readily utilized by the host plants to produce amino acids, the fundamental building blocks of proteins. The phenomenon by which atmospheric nitrogen is ‘fixed’ or converted into a readily usable form by microorganisms such as rhizobia is
* Mr. Anirban Basu, PhD Scholar from the University of Hyderabad, Telangana, is pursuing his research on “Interactions Between Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria and Rest of the Rhizosphere Microbiome of Pigeon Pea”. His popular science story entitled “Exploiting Microorganisms to Boost Pigeon Pea Production” has been selected for AWSAR Award.