GC: n
CT: Biofertilizers are live formulations of agriculturally beneficial microorganisms, which upon application to seed, root or soil can mobilize the availabslitty of nutrients by their biological activity and help to improve the soil health. Mmicrobes involved in these formulations not only mobilize N and put P but also secrete variots growth promoting and health promoting substances. The overall effect is reflected in increased productivity of crop, microbial life and stability of soil.
S: PTSA – http://goo.gl/vvJNMf (last access: 2 December 2014)
N: 1. bio (prefix): word-forming element, from Greek bio-, comb. form of bios “one’s life, course or way of living, lifetime” (as opposed to zoe “animal life, organic life”), from PIE root gweie- “to live”. The correct usage is that in biography, but in modern science it has been extended to mean “organic life.”
fertilizer (n): 1660s, “something that fertilizes (land),” agent noun from fertilize. As a euphemism for “manure,” from 1846.
2. The most suitable definition of biofertilizer found in literature is “bio-inoculant microorganisms possessing the potential to increase plant and crop growth through increased availability of nutrients via biological nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and/or growth promoting hormonal ssubstances are considered to be potential biofertilizers”.
3. The term biofertilizers, or what can more appropriately be called microbial inocculants, was defined by Subba Rao (1982) as preparations containing live or latent cells of efficient strains of nitrogen fixing, phosphate solubilizing or cellulytic microorganisms used for application to seed, soil or composting areas with the objective of increasing the numbers of such microorganizms and accelerating certain microbial process to augment extent of availability of nutrients in a form which can be easily assimilated by plants.
S: 1. OED – http://goo.gl/rZc4nI (last access: 2 December 2014). 2 & 3. MolBio – http://goo.gl/rVv19L (last access: 2 December 2014).
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CR: anaerobic digestion, biogas, biomass, biomass energy, manure.
