AligarhFarmers’ concerns about rising costs of farming and soil health are continuously increasing, In such a situation, a lot of emphasis is now being laid on biofertilizer as an alternative to chemical fertilizer, Biofertilizer not only claims better production at lower cost, but is also considered safe for the environment, After all, what is the difference between chemical and biofertilizer and which one can prove to be more beneficial for the farmer brothers? Agriculture expert Sharjeel Ahmed Siddiqui told special methods on this,
Shajeel Ahmed Siddiqui, scholar and agricultural expert of the Agriculture Department of AMU, said that along with chemical fertilizers in farming, the use of biofertilizer is also increasing rapidly. Phosphate, phosphatase and other chemical elements are present in chemical fertilizers, which farmers have been using for a long time. Whereas in biofertilizer, living microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungus, are present in live form.
He told that the biggest advantage of biofertilizer is that it increases production capacity and reduces the cost significantly. While about 30 kg of chemical fertilizer is applied in one hectare of land, the same work is done with biofertilizer in about 15 kg. Its cost is also almost half. Apart from this, biofertilizer does not have any toxic effect, hence it can be used directly in the field without any extra precautions.
He said that biofertilizer is also safer from environmental point of view. Chemical fertilizers flow from the fields and reach other places through water or air, causing harm to the environment. On the contrary, biofertilizers create symbiotic relationships with plants and provide essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphate, thereby maintaining soil fertility.
Sharzil says that there are different packets available for the use of biofertilizers, such as Azolla which is used in rice cultivation, phosphate solubilizing micro-organism and rhizobia. These can be easily applied in the fields like chemical fertilizers. The first one is used as inoculum. After that the normal procedure is followed.
He told that biofertilizer is not a new technology, rather it has been present in the market for the last many years. However, its awareness and availability is still limited. Its centers are present in many districts including Aligarh, from where packets are easily available. Biofertilizer is also being made available through government schemes and centers associated with ICAR. He appealed to the farmer brothers to use more biofertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers, so that they can get better profits at lower costs, the environment remains safe and the productivity of farming increases continuously.
