Agronomy Department, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
*Author Corrospondence: First Author, Agronomy Department, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
Online published on 8 May, 2017.
Biofertilizer is a wide term which includes a diverse category of bioinoculants such as nitrogen fixers, phosphate solubilizers, phosphate mobilizers and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Numerous bacterial species have found as PGPR mainly Azotobactor, Azosprillium, Bacillus, Pseudomonas etc. The application of these bacterial species as biofertilizers could be the alternate source of synthetic fertilizers because these bacterial species have great potential to fix atmospheric nitrogen as well as to solubilize the phosphorus in the soil. Azotobacter and Azospirillum genera are free-living bacteria and fix atmospheric nitrogen in cereal crops without any symbiosis. They fix 20–40 kg ha−1 nitrogen per year. Azotobacter sp. also has ability to produce antifungal compounds against many plant pathogens. Thus, biofertilizers containing beneficial organisms are cost effective, pollution free and a perennially renewable source of plant nutrients, making them ideal partners and essential supplements to chemical fertilizers.
Biofertilizers, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, cereal crops
