Blue Green Algae for Secondary Agriculture

Blue Green Algae (BGA) or cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic microorganisms widely distributed in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. These have tremendous metabolic diversity with the ability to produce a range of metabolites like pigments, polysaccharides, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, enzymes, antimicrobial compounds and many more. Till now the major application of cyanobacteria is in the form of biofertilizers, especially in India and a few South Asian nations, nonetheless due to the production of a number of industrially important molecules like phycobiliproteins, amino acids, bioactive lipids, biofuels, their mass cultivation has tremendous scope in secondary agriculture. Many of these compounds are of high value and have applications in the food, feed and pharmaceutical industries. Nevertheless, commercial exploitation of cyanobacteria in secondary agriculture is still in its infancy. Appropriate research efforts and suitable policy decisions are required to establish these versatile organisms as a secondary agriculture option and a profitable commercial venture.