Rice
Rice is the staple food crop in the world and is fed by more people than any other crop. In India, it is cultivated around 43 million hectares area, whereas 4.4 million hectares of its area is covered in Odisha. Chemical fertilizers are extensively used in rice which caused various threats to environmental, human, and soil health. Soil microorganisms play a significant role in regulating the dynamics of organic matter decomposition and the availability of plant nutrients. Hence, the application of biofertilizers in rice is becoming popular these days as an important alternative to chemical fertilizers. On the basis of the application of bio-fertilizers, it can be broadly classified as:
- Nitrogenous (N) bio-fertilizer
- Phosphatic (P) bio-fertilizer
- Potash (K) bio-fertilizer