BAU develops 4 new liquid biofertilizers

BHAGALPUR: The scientists at Bihar Agricultural University (BAU) have developed eco-friendly liquid biofertilizers (LBFs), which will increase the agricultural yield by more than 20%. The LBFs can be used in all kinds of crops, including pulses, vegetables, fruits and flowers.
BAU scientists say the objective behind developing the LBFs is to replace chemical fertilizers, which have incalculable harmful effects on soil, causing long-term imbalances in soil pH (a scale used to measure acidic or basicity percentage) and the agriculture products.
BAU vice-chancellor Ajoy Kumar Singh said unlike chemical fertilizers, the LBFs developed at BAU are high-quality bacteria-based fertilizers and increase the soil health and fertility. “The LBFs are liquid suspensions having useful bacteria (micro organisms) that fix soil nitrogen and dissolve the insoluble phosphates in the soil to make it available for the plants’ growth,” he said.
The BAU has developed four types of LBFs — S Rhizobium, S PhosphoBactrin, S Nitrofix and a combination of S PhosphoBantrin and Nitrofix. “These LBFs increase the soil fertility through nitrogen-fixation process, making soil phosphorus available to plants in growth without any harm or changing the soil property and quality,” Singh said.
“It is also cheaper compared to powder and granular fertilizers. The shelf life of LBFs is 2-3 times more than the conventional fertilizers and are able to increase the agriculture production substantially,” Singh said.
The VC claimed the university was considering various options for commercial production of LBFs under public-private partnership (PPP) mode for making it available to the farmers at the earliest. “Many enterprises have already approached us for its commercial production,” he said.
Scientist and assistant professor in the department of soil science and agricultural chemistry at BAU, Dr Mahendra Singh, said soil contains 40-45% minerals and rests are water, air and other organic matters. “Use of LBFs can increase the soil heal, fertility and productivity,” he said.