Organic fertilizer and Biofertilizer

The difference between Organic fertilizer and Biofertilizer

Organic fertilizer	Bio-fertilizer
Organic fertilizers are made from animal waste and plant-derived resource material. It might be fresh or dried plant material.	Bio-fertilizer is a type of fertilizer that contains living microorganisms that supply nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus.
compost, vermicomposting, grail meal, plant and animal manure etc.	Anabaena azollae which help supply nitrogen in paddy fields, Rhizobium, Azatobacter, Azospirillum

Organic fertilizer

• Organic fertilizer is derived from vegetable matter, animal waste, and mineral sources.
• There are many organic fertilizers for plant and farming, such as manures (Plant, sheep, goat, and poultry manure), FYM (dung+animal urine+ waste cattle fodder) compost, vermicompost, seaweed extract, grain meal, bio-solids (Human waste), oilcake (sunflower, groundnut, and cotton cake), fish meal and bone meal are generated from plant or animal sources.

Type of Organic Fertilizer

Various organic fertilizers are made from plant material, animal byproducts, and minerals.

Vegetable matter: such as compost, bio-solids, seaweed extract, Grain meal, crop residue (green manure), etc.

• Compost: it is prepared from decomposing plant and food waste, It provides rich growth nutrition and beneficial organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and fungi. It helps in improving soil fertility in kitchen gardens, landscaping, and organic farming.
• Vermicompost:  it is prepared from biodegradable waste into organic manure with the help of earthworms. It helps to get rich growth nutrition for plants. Vermicompost is the best organic fertilizer for flowering and fruiting.
• Earthworm species used in vermicomposting
  • African nightcrawler, Eudrilus Eugeniae (Kinberg)
  • Tiger worms, Eisenia fetida (Savigny)
  • Indigenous compost worm, Perionyx Excavatus (Perrier)

Animal matter: animal manure, bone meal, fish meal etc

• Animal manure: manure is formed from animals (cow dung and goat dropping) rich in nitrogen and organic carbon, helping increase the moisture-holding capacity of the soil and control weeds.
• Bone meal and fish meal: it’s made up of animal bones and other slaughterhouse waste. It is a rich source of phosphorus, calcium, and amino acids. It can improve soil fertility and yield. However, dosage can contribute to the burning of the roots of the plant.

Mineral fertilizer

• Rock phosphate: phosphate is extracted from mineral rocks and clay and it also contains a high concentration of trace micronutrients. It can be used to increase soil acidity and promote germination and seedling growth.

Organic matter

• Organic matter in Indian soil is less than 0.5%, and Organic matter contains nitrogen of about 5.5%
• Year after year the amount of organic matter in the soil decreases. in soil has declined. Organic matter is the key to the production and maintenance of soil health.

NPK contains different organic fertilizer

	N %	P2O5 %	K20 %
Compost	0.5	0.15	0.5
FYM	0.5	0.2	0.5
Vermicompost	3.0	1.0	1.5
Sheep & goat manure	3.0	1.0	2.0
Poultry manure	3.03	2.63	1.4
Fish manure	4-10	3-9	0.3-5
Bone meal	3-4	20-25	–

• FYM is the most commonly used organic manure in India. It should apply at least 15-20 days before sowing to avoid immobilization of nitrogen.
• Generally, 10-20 ton decomposed FYM is required per ha.
• FYM is generally used as organic fertilizer for vegetables and flower crops.

Advantages of organic fertilizer

• Organic fertilizer improves soil structure and nutrient status of soil.
• Improves moisture-absorbing capacity. 
• Organic fertilizer is rich in organic matter, which helps microbes thrive. And it helps the degradation of other natural substances in the soil.
• Sustainable and environment-friendly
• Application of organic fertilizer can be used on any type of soil at any time.
• Organic manure has no negative side effects, fertilizing the soil too much will never harm the plants in the future,
• Many high-quality organic products are used by farmers, landscapers, and kitchen gardeners all over the world to help plants grow stronger.
• Organic fertilizers are far safer to use as compared to use of synthetic fertilizers due to their lower concentration. Also, synthetic fertilizers have high acid content, which affects soil fertility, so organic fertilizer is best for soil.

Disadvantages of organic fertilizer

• It may not contain significant quantities of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. (except in manure-based fertilizer).
• Nutrients in organic fertilizer are released slowly. Organic fertilizer can take more time to dissolve and decompose into soil. But you can see quicker results in chemical fertilizer.
• Some Organic products are more expensive.

Details about organic fertilizer companies in India:

Nowadays many government organic fertilizer companies are there,  some brands of organic fertilizers are

• IFFCO BAZAR
• Ashirwad Nutrient Gujarat
• Kisan Agrovet Gujarat
• Amruth organic fertilizer and many more

Bio-fertilizer

It can be used through the application of seed, and soil or composting areas with the objective of increasing the number of such micro-organisms and accelerating certain microbial processes to augment the extent of the availability of nutrients in a form that can be assimilated by plants.

Types of Bio-fertilizer or Bio-fertilizer classification based on nutrient supply

A. Nitrogen fixation

• Azatobacter chroccum is used in rice, wheat, cotton, sugarcane
• Clostridium
• Azospirillum is used in sorghum, pearl millet, maize, and sunflower.
• Rhizobium spp is used in soybean, cowpea, groundnut, berseem, Sunhemp, pea, lentil, etc.
• Anabaena azolla used in paddy field.

B. Phosphorus

• Phosphate solubilizer bacteria (PSB) and VAM: is used in soil because the use of DAP and NPK creates problem like sulphate and phosphate residues in soil so PSB AND VAM solubilize them.

FAQ