KUZHEMBELA

The use of bio based fertilizer & seed treatment together with soil nutrient management 
is vital to any sustainable agriculture strategy.

Plant nutrition is only one of more than fifty factors which directly affect both crop yield and quality.

 

The availability of required nutrients, together with the degree of interaction between these nutrients and the soil, play a vital role in crop development. A deficiency in any one required nutrient or, a soil condition that limits or prevents a metabolic function from occurring can limit plant growth. 

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A soil nutrient management plan should include analyzing soil deficiencies to determine the type, application rate, application interval, and the placement of any nutrients required to optimize short and long term productivity.

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There is a significant difference between an induced deficiency and a real soil deficiency. For example, certain crops require the addition of molybdenum at a specific rate for optimum growth. This is a real deficiency. In other crops zinc or iron deficiencies, caused by high levels of phosphorus and active calcium, can result in reduced yield. This is an induced deficiency. 

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Typically, when deficiencies occur, the tendency is to foliar or soil apply copious amounts of product and hope for a favorable result. This ad hoc approach seldom achieves the expected result and is certainly not cost effective. 

The simple fact is; diagnosis is the first step in determining an appropriate corrective action which many include

 (1) a combination of treatments or

(2) a program that incorporates several applications of different products at different application rates and intervals. 

When soil is depleted there are two methods for restoring its fertility

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 (1) it can be left idle for several years allowing it to rebuild naturally or 

(2) organic matter, in the form of crop residue, together with a microbial based inoculant can be applied from an external source.

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In the latter case, the rebuilding process is accelerated and optimal conditions for soil biological activity and long term soil fertility are maintained.

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Soil organic matter is vital in rebuilding depleted soil as it ensures a continuous energy source for soil biomass. Soil biomass, consisting of microbes, fungi, algae, protozoa etc.

(1) transform organic molecules into mineral elements that are readily available to plants and

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 (2) help maintain good soil structure by transforming organic matter into humus and producing compounds that cement small soil particles together, promoting both increased drainage and moisture retention. 

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Soil nutrient management involves not only the physical properties and mineral structure of the soil, but also the balance between soil pathogens and beneficial microbes.

 

Beneficial microbes increase nutrient availability, reduce disease, reduce nutrient losses, and help degrade toxic compounds. Plants thrive or suffer, depending on the type of microbes in the rhizosphere (the area around the roots.) In a healthy rhizosphere, dominated by beneficial microbes, plant life and soil life work together to produce healthy plants. Conversely, in unhealthy soil, dominated by pathogenic microbes, optimum plant growth is unattainable.

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Biotechnology is the use of microbes, or life processes to produce materials and products that are useful to mankind. That is to say, any technique that uses living organisms, or parts of organisms, to make or modify products, improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses can be defined as biotech.

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The term was coined around 1915 but biotechnology, in one form or another, has been around since prehistoric times. Centuries ago people discovered, quite by accident, how to make use of biological processes that naturally occur within living cells. While they might not have understood the processes, they did observed the results.

 

They discovered, for example, that microbes like bacteria and moulds produced beer, wine and vinegar when grown in vats. Through trial and error, they learned to use these processes to solve problems and produce materials that were useful to mankind.

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In recent years our understanding of biotechnology has accelerated and as a result, biotechnology has come to indicate the application of a much more sophisticated set of techniques and tools. These tools and techniques, taken from biochemistry, immunology, microbiology, cell biology and chemistry, are used to address a variety of problems.

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The last four decades have seen lively developments in Biotechnology and EcoChem believes that the importance of Biotechnology is comparable to Microelectronics and Computer technology, and in the next century it will probably play a similar role to that of Chemistry in the industrial development of the 20th century.

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EcoChem uses of modern biotechnology to make microbes perform specific useful tasks in a predictable and controllable manner. For example, the CBPA waste management strategy is a process whereby biological decomposition occurs under controlled conditions.

 

In this process the BM component in CBPA eliminates harmful microorganisms that cause odor and increases rapid decomposition of the biodegradable component in organic matter.

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