Question

Discuss the role of fungi as biofertilizers.

Answer 1

Hint: Preparation of organic fertilizers is very important for reducing soil pollution and increasing the fertility of the soil with environmental friendly products. The chemical fertilizers are very harmful to the soil and even to the plant and human health.

Complete Answer:
- Compost is the organic matter used as fertilizer in cultivational fields. To produce, the organic matter undergoes a decomposition process and forms the composting. The organic matters like vegetable wastes, husk, and cow dung are used to undergo composting. It is useful for the plants as it is rich with high nutrients.
- Depending on the pile size of the compost it will take different time to produce fertilizer but minimum it takes three month maximum two years. Healthy items to compost involve vegetable peelings, teabags, fruit waste, cutting grass, and pruning of plants. These are rapidly break-down and give substantial nitrogen as well as humidity.
- Having items like egg boxes, cardboard, fallen leaves, and scrunches paper are good too. Vermicomposting is a type in which certain earthworms’ species are used to enhance the conversion of organic wastes to produce good fertilizer.
- Vermicomposting can be carried out in two methods; bed methods in which beds of different organic matters are being prepared and the pit method in which the organic matters are dumped inside a cemented pit along with the worms and left for decomposing. But the pit method has some disadvantages as it has a water logging problem and poor aeration.
- Now, the role of fungi as biofertilizers is; the fungi belonging to Glomus forms mycorrhiza, the mycorrhiza used as biofertilizers. The mycorrhiza has a symbiotic association with plants, they help the plants to absorb the nutrients from the soil and also the fungal filaments increase the surface area for the absorption of many different nutrients.

Note: The organic composting is a time consuming method hence it is quite expensive in comparison to chemical compost. But organic composting is eco-friendly to the cultivational field and the environment.