Potential Use of Azotobacter and Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria as Biofertilizer
Biofertilizer contains living microorganisms and promotes growth by increasing the availability of primary nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) to the host plant. Biofertilizer also provides nutrients required by the plants and helps to increase the soil quality with natural microorganism (Vessey, 2003) Some of the beneficial microbes used in biofertilizers are N2 fixing bacteria, phosphate solubilizing microbes and mycorrhizae which are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen or solubilize phosphorus in the soil (Subba, 1999) Microorganisms are extensively used as biofertilizers in agricultural practices. The biofertilizers are the live or contain latent cell of beneficial microorganisms, which augment the availability of nutrients to the plants. The beneficial micro organisms are rhizobium, Azotobacters, azospirillum, cyanobacteria, phosphobacteria and mycorrhiza. Among these Azotobacters and phosphate bacteria play major role in the supply of nutrients and in the plant growth promoting activities. These bacteria are International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319 7706 Volume 5 Number 10 (2016) pp. 79 90 Journal homepage: http:/www.ijcmas.com