Use of biofertilizers for sustainable crop production

Abstract

Sustainable crop production is the need of hour, and for optimum plant growth and development and higher productivity, availability of nutrients should be balanced and sufficient. In developing countries, among resource-poor farmers, soil infertility is the most important constraint for higher crop yield. In order to maintain soil fertility and higher crop production, use of synthetic fertilizers has been used widely. However, incessant use of fertilizers causes decline of soil quality as well as productivity. Continuous use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers leads to soil acidity and enrichment of P in vegetable production. Improvement in soil fertility could be restored efficiently through adaption of integrated soil fertility management like biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) for increasing efficiency of inputs and higher productivity of crops.