Role of Biofertilizers and Organic Manure in Eco-friendly Agriculture: Retrospect and Future Prospects

About three thousand years back, Chinese first understood the value of green manuring, followed by Greeks and Romans and this practice continued in the countries around the Mediterranean. In Italy and south of France the lupines were frequently used as the green-manuring plant. Following USA, now, there is an increasing interest in organic or biological farming practices in Europe which is based on the biodynamic movement. The present day need is to reduce the chemical fertilizers and pesticides usage and maximize the use of organic manures and biofertilizers. Organic manures have been prepared using kitchen wastes, agricultural wastes and sewage etc. with the help of agriculturally important microbial consortia as decomposers and have been found to be far better than chemical fertilizers without any adverse effects on the environment. The future prospects of biofertilizers has been initiated in the 21st. century with the advent of firstly, the development of multi-functional microbial consortia which help in preparation of biofertilizers that improve the growth and the produce of crop plants, as well as an enhancement and maintenance of soil fertility; and secondly, the development of organic manures enriched with agriculturally important microbial consortia that enhance the productivity of crop plants together with its protection against soil-borne fungal and bacterial pathogens and eliminate the use of harsh and hazardous chemical pesticides. Now, more advancement has happened in microbial inoculants using nanotechnology.