11.

Enhancement in Food Production

Can You Recall ?
1. What are hybrid plants?
Ans: A hybrid plant is the result of cross-pollinating two different plant varieties and then
collecting and growing the seeds that the plants produce.
2. Different examples of microbes used in household production?
Ans: Lactobacilli, Streptococcus thermophilus, saccharomyces cerevisiae.
3. The types or groups of micro-organisms that produce antibiotics?
Ans: Penicillin, rifamycin, erythromycin
4. What are biofertilizers?
Ans: “Biofertilizers are substances that contain microorganisms, which when added to the soil
increase its fertility and promotes plant growth.”
5. What is the source of silk thread?
Ans: Silk comes from the cocoons of certain insects, such as the mulberry silkworm. When the
insects create their cocoons, harvesters extract the fibers and spin them into thread.
Each cocoon may contain more than 1,000 yards of fibers, but it takes several to create
thread strong enough to make cloth.
➢ What is Food ?
• Food is one of the basic needs as it gives us energy for everything.
• It keeps us alive, strong and healthy.
• It can be defined as any thing solid or liquid, which when swallowed, digested and assimilated in the body, keeping us
well.
• It is organic, energy rich, non-poisonous, edible and nourishing substance.
Notes : To meet the increasing demand for food, there is need for improvement of food production, both
quantity wise and quality wise (nutritive). animal breeding
➢ Plant breeding
➢ Animal breeding
❖ Topics to Be studied in This Chapter :
A) Plant breeding G) Role of Microbes in Industrial
1). Hybridization and its technique Production
2). Indian Hybrid crops 1) Production of Alcoholic
3). Mutation Breeding
B) Tissues Culture
Beverages
1) Micropropagation (Clonal Propagation) 2) Production of organic acids
C) Single cell protein (SCP) 3) Production of vitamins
D) Biofortification 4) Production of Antibiotics
E) Animal husbandry 5) Production of Enzymes
1). Animal breeding 6) Gibberellin production
2). Dairy farm management H) Microbes in Sewage Treatment
3). Poultry farm management
4). Apiculture or bee keeping
1) Composition of Sewage
5). Fishery 2) Microorganisms in Sewage
6). Sericulture I) Microbes in Energy Generation
7). Lac culture 1) Biogas Production
F) Microbes in human welfare J) Role of Microbes as Biocontrol Agents
1) Microbes in food preparation 1) Bioherbicides
2) Dosa, Dhokla and Idli K) Role of Microbes as Biofertilizers
3) Microbes as the Source of Food
4) Dairy Products
1) Types of Biofertilizers
➢ Plant Breeding :

✓ The improvement or purposeful manipulation in the heredity of crops and the production of new superior
varieties of existing crop plants, constitute what is called plant breeding.
✓ It is, therefore, an applied branch of botany.
✓ It is infact an art and the science of changing and improving the heredity of plants.
✓ Plant breeding can be carried out by using the applications of principles of genetics, taxonomy,
physiology, pathology, agriculture, rDNA technology, etc
A. Hybridization and its technique :
• It is the chief method that offers greater possibilities in the crop improvement than other
methods.
• The use of this method is the only effective means of combining together the desirable
characters of two or more varieties.
o Hybridization can be intra-varietal
o Inter-varietal (between two varieties of the same species)
o interspecific (between two species of the same genus)
o and intergeneric (between two genera of the same family).

The main steps of the plant breeding program (Hybridization) are as follows :
1. Collection of Variability :
Wild species and relatives of the cultivated species having desired traits, should be collected and
preserved.
 ➢ Germplasm conservation can be done in following ways:
• In situ conservation : It can be done with the help of forests and Natural Reserves.
• Ex situ conservation : It is done through botanical gardens, seed banks, etc
2. Evaluation and Selection of Parents :
• It is an important and essential step.
• The collected germplasm is evaluated (screened) to identify plants with desirable
characters.
• The two plants selected as parents must be healthy, vigorous and should show desirable
but complementary features.
3. Hybridization :
• The variety showing maximum desirable features is selected as female (recurrent) parent and
the other one as male parent (donor) which lacks good characters found in recurrent parent.
• The pollen grains from anthers of male parent are collected and then artificially dusted over
stigmas of emasculated flowers of female parent.
• Pollination is followed by seed and fruit formation in due course.
4. Selection and Testing of Superior Recombinants :
• The F1 hybrid plants showing superiority over both the parents and having high hybridvigour, are
selected.
• Such hybrids are then selfed for few generations to make them homozygous for the said
desirable characters till there is a state of uniformity, so that the characters will not
segeregate further.
5. Testing, Release and Commercialization of New Cultivars:
• The newly selected lines are evaluated for the productivity and other features like disease
resistance, pest resistance, quality, etc.
• Initially, these plants are grown under controlled conditions of water, fertilizers, etc.
• and their performance is recorded. The selected lines are then grown for three generations at least
in natural field, in different agroclimatic zones.
• Finally variety is released as new variety for use by the farmers
Indian Hybrid Crops :
1. Wheat and Rice :
• Sonalika and Kalyan Sona are two of the hybrid wheat varieties, grown in India.
• Semi-dwarf rice varieties were taken from IRí8 (International Rice Research Institute) and
Taichung nativeíI (from Taiwan) and introduced in India.
• Jaya, Padma and Ratna are the better-yielding, semi-dwarf rice varieties that were developed
later.
B. Mutation Breeding :
• Mutation is sudden heritable change in the genotype, caused naturally.
• It can also be induced by application of chemicals.
Natural (physical) mutagens are :
High temperature, high concentration of CO2 , X rays, UV rays.
Chemical mutagens are :
Nitrous acid, EMS (Ethyl Methyl Sulphonate), Mustard gas, Colchicine, etc.
• Seedlings or seeds are irradiated by CO60, exposed to UV bulbs, X ray machines, etc.
 Plant Breeding for Developing a Resistance to Insect Pest:

C) Tissue culture
• It is actually a collection of different techniques.
• It is infact, emerged as a technique of plant biotechnology.
• Here, isolated cells, tissues, organs are grown ‘in vitro’ on a solid/ liquid nutrient medium, under
aseptic and controlled conditions of light, humidity and temperature, for achieving different
objectives.
• The part of plant used in tissue culture is called explant.
• Plant tissue culture is based on principle of Totipotency which is an inherent ability of living plant cell
to grow, divide, redivide and give rise to a whole plant.
Tissue culture is of two types :
• Callus Culture
• Suspension Culture
Callus Culture :
• the solid medium is used.
• The development and organisation of tissue is lost.
• Hence, the cells of explant, divide and redivide to form a mass of undifferentiated cells, called callus.
• It is maintained on solid medium.
• Callus can be induced to form organs like root (rhizogenesis) and shoot (caulogenesis) and thus the
plantlet.
• No shaker (agitator) is needed.
Suspension Culture :
• small groups of cells or a single cell are used as explant in the liquid medium.
• The liquid medium is constantly agitated by using shakers (agitators) so that there is
constant mixing of medium and the explant.
• Both the callus and suspension cultures die in due course of time.

Micropropagation (Clonal Propagation) :

• Organogenesis via shoots is considered as one of the most widely used
commercial method of regeneration of plant.
• Micropropagation is also known as clonal propagation.
• It is the only process adopted by Indian plant biotechnologists in different
industries, mainly for the commercial production of ornamental plants like
orchids, Chrysanthemum, Eucalyptus, etc.
• and fruit plants like banana, grapes, Citrus, etc.
 Applications of tissue culture :
• There are various application of tissue
culture in forestry, agriculture,
horticulture, genetic engineering,
physiology, etc.
• The different applications of tissue
culture include :-
✓ Production of disease free plants and
haploid plantlets,
✓ micropropagation,
✓ production of secondary metabolites,
✓ protoplast culture,
✓ culture of rare plants,
✓ Soma-clonal variations,
✓ production of stress resistant plants,
etc.
D) Single cell protein (SCP) :
➢ By 2050, the world would need to produce 1,250 million tonnes of meat and dairy products per year, to meet global
demand for animal derived protein at current consumption levels.
➢ However, growing demand for protein will not be met sustainably by increasing meat and dairy production because
of the low efficiency of converting feed to meat and dairy products.

• The microorganisms utilize the carbon and nitrogen present in these materials and convert
them into high-quality proteins that can be used as a supplement, in both human and animal
feed.
• Besides proteins, SCP is also rich in vitamins, vitamin B complex, minerals and fats.
• The single-cell proteins can be readily used as fodder for achieving fattening of calves, pigs,
in breeding fish and even in poultry and cattle farmimg.
• The microorganisms used for the production of SCP are as follows :
 Advantages of Single-Cell Protein :
• Microorganisms have a high rate of multiplication that means a large quantity of biomass can be
produced in a comparatively short duration.
• The microbes can be easily genetically modified to vary the amino acid composition.
• They have high protein contents- 43% to 85% (W/W basis).
• A broad variety of raw materials, including waste materials, can be used as a substrate for SCP.
• This also helps in decreasing the number of pollutants.
• SCP serves as a good source of vitamins, amino acids, minerals, crude fibres, etc.

E) Biofortification
• It is a method in which crops are breed (produced) for having higher levels of vitamins,
minerals and fats (i.e. better nutritive value).
• It can also be achieved by supplementing nutrients from outside, besides breeding.
• Due to this, problem of malnutrition can be overcome.
• Following objectives were considered for the breeding program :
F) Animal husbandry
• Animal husbandry is an agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.
• It is not only a skill of farmers but also is as much a science, as it is an art.
• Animal husbandry deals with care and breeding of livestock like buffaloes, cows, pigs, horses, cattles,
sheeps, camels, goats, etc.
• which are useful to humans.
• It also includes poultry farming, fish farming, bee keeping, sericulture, lac culture, etc.
• Animals like honey bees, silk worms, prawns, crabs, birds, fish, pigs, cattle, sheep and camels have been
used by humans for the products like milk, eggs, meat, wool, honey, silk, etc.
Management of farms and farm animals :
• Farm management starts from selection of high yielding breeds, their food requirements,
supply of adequate nutritional sources, cleanliness of the environment and maintenance of
health.
• Management of farm animals includes veterinary supervision, vaccination, high yielding
cross breed development, production and preservation of products, distribution and
marketing.

1). Animal breeding :

• Breeding of animals is an important aspect of animal husbandry.
• Animal breeding aims at increasing the yield of animals and improving the desirable qualities of
the products.
Breed:
• A group of animals related by descent and similar in most characters like general appearance, features,
size, configuration, etc., are said to belong to a breed.
Breeding can be of two main types - inbreeding and outbreeding :
a. Inbreeding :
• It involves breeding of closely related individuals for 4 to 6 generations.
• Inbreeding increases homozygosity. By inbreeding, pure lines of animals can be obtained.
• Inbreeding is helpful in the elimination of harmful recessive genes and for the
accumulation of superior genes.
• Inbreeding has the demerit that it usually reduces the fertility and productivity
b. Outbreeding:
• It involves breeding of unrelated animals.
• The animals may be of the same breed but having no common ancestors for 4 to 6 generations.
Outcrossing:
• involves breeding between the animals of different species.
• It is also known as interspecific hybridization.
• Outcrossing helps to remove the inbreeding depression.
Crossbreeding
• involves the breeding of superior male of one breed with superior female of another
breed.
• By cross-breeding, new animal breeds of desirable characters are developed. e.g.
Hisardale is a new breed of sheep developed from crossing of Bikaneri ewe and
Marino rams in Punjab.
Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer (MOET)
• Involves the technology which provides the chances of successful production of hybrids.
• In this method, cow is administered with FSH like hormone, to induce follicular maturation and
then the super ovulation is brought about.
• In each cycle, 6 to 8 eggs mature simultaneously.
• The cow is either mated with an elite bull or artificially inseminated.
• The blastocysts at 8 to 32 cell stage are recovered non-surgically and transferred to surrogate
mothers.
• This technology is successfully used in cattles, sheeps, rabbits, buffaloes, etc.
2. Dairy farm management :
✓ Dairy industry involves production, processing and distribution of milk and milk products.
✓ Milk is a valuable food stuff universally consumed by human beings.
✓ In India, cows and buffaloes are mainly used for dairy farms. Sahiwal, Sindhi, Gir are
Indian breeds and Jersey, Brown Swiss, Holstein are exotic breeds, which are used in
dairy farming.
✓ Buffaloes are restricted to some part of Asia only. In India, six breeds occur viz,
Jaffarabadi, Mehsana, Murrah, Nagpuri, Nili, Surati, which are all good milk producers.
✓ Cattles have to be well looked after.
✓ Quality and quantity of fodder in proper ratio, should be given.
✓ Silage made from legumes and grasses, maize and jowar, makes good feed.
3. Poultry farm management :
✓ Poultry includes number of bird species such as chicken, ducks, turkey, and fowls which are
domesticated for their eggs and meat.
✓ Selection of proper and disease free breed, suitable and safe farm condition, proper feed and water,
hygiene and health care, are important requirements for poultry farm management.
✓ On the basis of their origin,
✓ different types of poultry breeds are :American breeds Plymouth Rock, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island Red;
✓ Asiatic breeds are Brahma, Cochin and Langshan;
✓ Mediterranean breeds are Leg horn, Minorca; English breeds include Australorp;
✓ Indian breeds are Chittagong, Aseel, Brahma, and Kadaknath.
✓ Leghorn is best layer (for eggs) while Playmouth rock, Rhode Island Red, Aseel, Brahma and Kadaknath,
are preferred as broilers (for meat).
i. Viral diseases include Ranikhet, Bronchitis, Avian influenza (bird flu), etc. Few years ago, bird flu
had seriously influenced poultry farming and caused human infection too.
ii. Bacterial diseases mainly include Pullorum, Cholera, Typhoid, TB, CRD (chronic respiratory disease),
Enteritis, etc.
iii. Fungal diseases are Aspergillosis, Favus and Thrush.
iv. Parasitic diseases include infections by lice, round worm, caecal worm, etc.
v. Protozoan diseases e.g. Coccidiosis is a protozoan disease.
4. Apiculture or bee keeping :
• Apiculture or bee keeping deals with an artificial rearing of honey bees to obtain bee products like honey, wax,
pollens, bee venom, propolis (bee glue) and royal jelly as well as pollinating agents for crop plants.

Polymorphism in honey bee :

• Bee keeping is practiced in the areas where sufficient wild shrubs, fruit orchards and cultivated crops are present.
Artificial bee hive :
• For successful bee keeping one
must be familiar with the habits
of bees, selection of suitable
location, catching and hiving of
swarms, management of hives
during different seasons,
handling and collection of honey,
bee wax and other products.
• Bee keeping in the crop field of
sunflower, mustard, safflower,
chilly, cabbage, cucumber,
legumes, fruits like apple, mango,
citrus, etc.
• help in increasing the
productivity of honey as well as
crops tremendously.
5. Fishery :
• Fishery is a branch of applied biology
which deals with the catching,
processing, fish farming and
marketing of fish, and other useful
aquatic animals such as, prawns,
lobsters, oysters, mussels and crabs.
• Inland fishery includes culturing
and capturing of fish from fresh
water bodies like ponds, lakes, dams
and river.
• Inland aquatic area of our country
covers about 40 to 50 lakh acres.
• The common fresh water fish are
Labeo rohita (rohu), Catla (catla),
Cirrhina mrigala (mrigala) and other
carps.
6. Sericulture :
• Sericulture is the branch of applied
zoology which deals with rearing of
silkworm and production of silk.
• Like other farming, sericulture also
involves skill and scientific knowledge
for rearing and development.
• It require less investment and can be
started in small space. It is the oldest
business and large number of families
are associated with the production of
silk in India.
• Disabled, older persons, handicapped
people can successfully do this job.
The best quality silk called mulberry silk, is produced by silkworm Bombyx mori, while Tussar
silk and Eri silk are of inferior quality. The quality and quantity of silk depends on the quality of
mulberry leaves on which the larvae feed.
7. Lac culture :
• Lac is produced by an insect Trachardia lacca, which is quite small in size and colonial in
habit. Resin like substance is produced by Dermal glands of female lac insect.
• Insect feeds on succulent twigs of certain plants like ber, peeple, palas, kusum, babool, etc
and secretes pink coloured resin, that hardens on coming in contact with air forming lac.
• Lac is used in bangles, toys, woodwork, inks, mirrors, etc
• Production of lac requires an artificial inoculation of plants which give better and regular
supply of good quality and quantity of lac

Microbes in human welfare :

• Biotechnology is the applications of ‘Scientific and Engineering principles

for the processing of materials by biological agents to provide goods and
service to humans or for human welfare’.
• There are variety of microorganisms like algae, fungi, bacteria, viruses,
protozoans, nematodes, etc.
• Their products having beneficial activities are used for welfare of humans
in regard to food, health, industry, agriculture, medicine, biocontrol, etc.
1. Dosa, Dhokla and Idli: 3. Dairy Products:
• The dosa, idli and dhokla are • Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) like Lactobacillus are added to milk.
fermented products produced It ferments lactose sugar of milk into lactic acid.
due to activity of bacteria. • Lactic acid causes coagulation and partial digestion of milk
• They are fermented preparation protein casein.
• Milk is changed into curd, yoghurt and cheese.
of rice and black Gram with air
i. Curd: Indian curd is prepared by inoculating milk
borne Leuco-nostoc and
with Lac to bacillus acidophilus. It also
Streptococcus species of checks growth of disease causing microbes.
bacteria. ii. Yoghurt (= yogurt):
• CO2 produced during • It is produced by curdling milk with the help of
fermentation causes puffing up Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus
of the dough. bulgaricus.
iii. Butter Milk:
2.Microbes as the Source of Food : • The acidulated liquid left after churning of
• Some microbes or their fruiting butter from curd, is called butter milk.
bodies are directly used as a source iv. Cheese:
of food, as they are rich in vitamins • It is the partially degraded concentrate of
and proteins. milkfat and protein.
• The term “SCP” or “single cell • The milk is coagulated with lactic acid bacteria
protein” denotes, dead and dried and the curd formed is filtered to separate
cells of microbes like bacteria, whey.
algae, molds and yeasts. • The solid mass is then ripened with growth of
• Some mushrooms and truffles are mould that develops flavour in it.
directly used as food.
Role of Microbes in Industrial Production:
o During fermentation, variety of products like alcoholic beverages, organic acids, vitamins, growth
hormones, enzymes, antibiotics, etc. are produced.
o Production on an industrial scale requires growing microbes in very large vessels, called fermenters.
a. Production of Alcoholic Beverages :
• Beverage is alcoholic or non-alcoholic liquid produced
or prepared and used for drinking e.g. tea, coffee,
beer, wine, which acts as stimulant.
• Microbes especially yeast have been used from time
immemorial for the production of beverages like wine,
beer, whiskey, brandy or rum.
• For this purpose, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
var. ellipsoidis (commonly called Brewer’s Yeast) is
used for fermenting malted cereals and fruit juices to
produce ethanol.
• Among the beverages, Wine and Beer are produced
without distillation whereas whiskey, brandy and rum
are distilled beverages.
• Tubular tower fermenter is used for large scale
production of alcohols.
b. Production of organic acids:
• Microbes are also used for the commercial and industrial production of certain organic acids.
• These compounds can be produced directly from glucose (e.g. gluconic acid) or formed as end products
from pyruvate or ethanol.

c. Production of vitamins:
• Vitamins are some complex organic nitrogenous compounds required in small amount and are capable of performing
many life-sustaining functions inside our body.
• These compounds cannot be synthesized by humans (except vitamin D), and therefore they have to be supplied in
small amounts in the diet.
d. Production of Antibiotics:
• Antibiotics are probably the most
important group of compounds synthesized
by industrial microorganisms.
• Most antibiotics are secondary metabolites.
• They have therapeutic importance and are
used in medical treatment.
• These are produced in small amounts by
certain microbes (like bacteria, fungi and
few algae), which inhibit growth of other
microbial pathogens.
• Therefore, they are used in medicine.
• The antibiotics are antibacterial,
antifungal, etc
e. Production of Enzymes:
• In living beings, enzymes play a key role in
metabolic reactions and therefore, these are
f. Gibberellin production:
essential for the survival of such beings. • Gibberellin is a group of growth
• Enzymes are proteins known as biocatalysts hormones mainly produced by higher
due to their ability to promote reactions more
quickly at body temperature and more
plants and fungi to promote growth by
efficiently. stem elongation.
• Many microbes synthesize and excrete large • The first gibberellin was isolated by
quantities of enzymes into the surrounding
medium.
two Japanese scientists -Yabuta and
• Using this feature of these tiny organisms, Sumiki (1938) from rice seedlings
many enzymes are produced commercially. infected with the fungus Gibberella
• These enzymes are Amylase, Cellulase,
Protease, Lipase, Pectinase, Streptokinase and
fujikouri.
many others.
Microbes in Sewage Treatment:
Sewage is a matter carried off in drainage. It is a municipal waste containing human excreta, house hold waste, dissolved
organic matter and even pathogenic microbes (bacteria, viruses, protozoans, nematodes and micro-fungi).
1.Composition of Sewage: 2.Microorganisms in Sewage:
• Sewage consists of approximately • Various types of micro-organisms are also present in sewage.
99.5% to 99.9% water and 0.1 to • Bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, algae, etc. are
0.5% inorganic and organic matter found in sewage.
in suspended and soluble form. • However, their number and type, fluctuate depending upon the
• Composition of sewage varies
sewage composition and source of sewage.
depending upon the type of waste
• Raw sewage may contain millions of bacteria per ml.
discharged into water from
• These include coliforms, fecal Streptococci, anaerobic spore
different industries.
• e.g. textile, chemicals, forming bacilli and other types originating in the intestinal
pharmaceuticals, dairy tract of humans

3.
Microbes in Energy Generation :
• Many developing countries are encouraging for installation of biogas plants to meet out the requirement
of energy.
• Biogas is used as a domestic as well as industrial fuel.
• It is a non-conventional and renewable source of energy and is obtained by microbial fermentation.
• Biogas is a mixture of methane CH4 (50-60%), CO2 (30-40%), H2 S (0-3%) and other gases (CO, N2 ,
H2 ) in traces.
• Biogas is highly inflammable and is used as a source of energy
Biogas Production:
• Most commonly used models of biogas plants are KVIC and IARI. The digester used for biogas production is called Biogas Plant.
• A typical biogas plant using cattle dung as a raw material, consists of digester and gas holder. Digester is made up of concrete bricks
and cement, or steel.
Anaerobic digestion involves in three processes : iii. Methanogenesis :
i. Hydrolysis or solublization : • This is last stage in which anaerobic Methanogenic
• In initial stage raw material (cattle dung) is bacteria like Methanobacterium, Methanococcus
mixed with water in equal proportion to
convert acetate, H2 and CO2 into Methane, CO2 and
make slurry which is then fed into the
digester. Here anaerobic hydrolytic H2 O and other products.
bacteria (e.g. Clostridium, Pseudomonas).

ii. Acidogenesis :
• In this stage, facultative anaerobic,
acidogenic bacteria and obligate anaerobic
organisms, convert simple organic material
into acids like formic acid.
Role of Microbes as Biocontrol Agents:
• The term biocontrol refers to the use of biological methods to control diseases and pests.
• The natural method of eliminating and controlling insects, pests and other disease causing agents, is
by using their natural, biological enemies.
• This is called biocontrol or biological control.
Examples of Microbial bio-control :
i. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is used to get rid of butterfly, caterpillars where dried spores of Bacillus thuringiensis
are mixed with water and sprayed on to vulnerable plants such as Brassicas and fruit trees.
ii. Trichoderma species are free-living fungi found in the root ecosystem (rhizosphere). These are effective as
biocontrol agents of several soil borne fungal plant pathogens.
Bioherbicides :
• Weeds are the unwanted plants that grow in agricultural fields, ponds, lakes, etc.
• compete with the main crop in the farm- land for water, space, minerals, light, air, etc. and also act as collateral hosts
for several pathogens.
Role of Microbes as Biofertilizers:
• Fertilizers are nutrients which are necessary for the growth of plants and thus for the productivity of cultivated
plants.
• Use of fertilizers for increasing productivity is one of the aspects of green revolution.
• Fertilizers are classified as inorganic (chemical) and organic (biological).
• Inorganic fertilizers are synthetic where mineral salts of NPK are mixed in definite proportion and then dusted in
the field. Non-judicious or excessive use of such fertilizers lead to pollution of soil, air and ground water.
• Soil becomes acidic.
Types of Biofertilizers:

1.N2 fixing Biofertilizers: 2.Phosphate solubilizing biofertilizers: 4.Cyanobacteria as biofertilizers :

• The nitrogen fixing • These are the bacterial species • Many cyanobacteria are aquatic
microorganisms which convert which solubilize the insoluble and terestrial, free-living or
symbiotic, aerobic,
atmospheric nitrogen into inorganic phosphate compound,
photosynthetic, N2 fixing,
nitrogenous compounds like such as rock phosphate.
heterocystous or non-
nitrites and nitrates via ammonia. • For eg. Pseudomonas striata
heterocystous forms.
• Nitrogen fixing microorganisms, 3.Compost making biofertilizers: • e.g. Anabaena, Nostoc,
also called diazotrophs. • Composting is a natural process that Plectonema, Oscillatoria, etc.
i. Symbiotic N2 fixing microorganisms: turns organic material into a dark
for eg. Rhizobium, Anabaena, Frankia. rich substance called as compost or
ii. Free-living or Non- Symbiotic N2 humus.
• The composting process is dependent
fixing microorganisms: e.g.
on microorganisms to break down
Azotobacter. organic matter into compost.
Fungal biofertilizers:
• Mycorrhiza is a fungus. It forms symbiotic association with the underground parts like rhizomes and roots of higher
plants occuring in thick humid forests.
1) Ectomycorrhizae: 2) Endomycorrhizae:
• They have well developed mycelium • They grow in between and within the cortical cells of
that forms mantle on the outside of roots. Fungal hyphae penetrate the cells and form
the roots. finely branched arbuscules intracellularly and form
• This increases absorptive surface area vesicles mostly in the intercellular speces of cortical
of roots and accelerates uptake of cells.
water and nutrients (N, P, Ca and K). • Hence they are called Vesiculo Arbuscular
Mycorrhizae or VAM.

Biofertilizer microorganisms:
1)Rhizobium:
• Rhizobia are rod shaped, motile, aerobic,
gram negative, non spore forming,
nitrogen-fixing bacteria containing Nod
genes and Nif genes.
• They form symbiotic association with
roots of leguminous plants.
2)Azotobacter:
• It is an important and well known free living,
nitrogen fixing, aerobic, non-photosynthetic, non-
nodule forming bacterium which is intimately
associated with roots of grasses and certain plants.
• It is used as a bio-fertilizer for all non-leguminous
plants especially rice, cotton, vegetables, etc

3)Azospirillum:
• It is free living, aerobic nitrogen fixing bacterium
associated with roots of corn, wheat and jowar.
• It fixes the considerable quantity of nitrogen (20-40kg
N/ha) in non – leguminous plants such as cereals, millets,
cotton, oilseed, etc.
4)Anabaena :
• It is a genus of multicellular, filamentous
cyanobacteria that exits as plankton.
• It has ability to fix nitrogen and also forms
symbiotic relationships with certain plants, such as
the coralloid roots of Cycas and Anthoceros thallus.

5) Azolla:
• Azolla is a free-floating water fern.
• Azolla plant consist of a floating rhizome (stem)
with small overlapping bi-lobed leaves and roots.
• The leaf shows dorsal and ventral lobe.
Thank You