The Impact of Organic and Biofertilizers on Growth and Yield of Agronomic and Horticultural Crop

Abstract

The emergence of sustainable agriculture in the whole world has brought out organic and biofertilizers as potential tools of replacing the chemical fertilizers with their benefits of ensuring improved health of soils and less adverse effect on the environment. The review is a comprehensive assessment of the effects of organic and biofertilizers on the growth and yield of agricultural and horticultural crops based on peer-reviewed literature article. Home-made organic fertilisers namely; Compost, manure, and vermicompost enhance the soil structure and water retention along with enhanced microbial activity and result in a 10-25 percent increase in plant height, biomass, and yield in different crops. Biofertilizers, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Rhizobium, Azotobacter), phosphate-solubilizing microbes (Pseudomonas), and mycorrhizal fungi also increase nutrient uptake and stress tolerance, and improve yields 1030 per cent in field tests. Organic and biofertilizers produce 80-95 percent conventional agricultural yields and promote the long-term soil fertility and the avoidance of nutrient leaching compared to the chemical fertilizers. But issues like variable efficacy related to soil and climatic situations, high cost of production and little farmer awareness do not contribute positively towards its wide scale implementation. The future outlooks are microbial consortia, the integration of precision agriculture, and the facilitating policies which will make it more scalable and accessible, especially by the smallholder farmers. This review highlights the promise of organic and biofertilizers to help promote sustainable crop production providing evidence-based information on their performance, weaknesses, and the processes that should be followed to achieve greater adoption.