Recent advances in application of biofertilizers in pulses: A review

Globally, India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses. Biofertilizers, a low cost input, help in increasing the crop productivity by way of biological nitrogen fixation, increased availability or uptake of nutrients through solubilization or increased stimulation of plant growth through the synthesis of growth promoting substances such as indole acetic acid (IAA), gibberellins, auxins, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide and siderophore production. Furthermore, biofertilizer inoculation helps to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. These are environmentally friendly and play a significant role in boosting the pulse crop production. In this review paper, literature regarding different types of biofertilizers and their effect on different pulse crops has been studied. The effect of application of biofertilizer inoculation on biological nitrogen fixation, growth, symbiotic traits, productivity, quality, soil fertility, residual effect and economic benefit has been reviewed and summarized under different headings. Application of biofertilizers increases the plant growth, symbiotic traits (nodule number, nodule weight) and grain yield over no inoculation in different pulse crops without producing any adverse effect on the environment. Moreover, seed inoculation with biofertilizers provides economic benefits over without inoculation. Furthermore, single or dual inoculations of biofertilzers improve the nutrient status of soil and ultimately increase the nutrient uptake by crop along with improvement in protein content. Seed inoculation with biofertilizers also increases organic carbon, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium and microbial count in the soil after the crop harvest over un-inoculated control. The nitrogen amounts fixed as a result of inoculation leave a net positive N balance in the soil. Thereby, biofertilizers inoculation helps in achieving higher profits while maintaining the agricultural sustainability.