Bio-Based Fertilizers and Soil Microbial Diversity: Implications for Sustainable Crop Production

Abstract

The field-based experimental design was used to assess the impact of bio-based fertilizers on soil microbial diversity and productivity. The crop plots were divided into four treatments: bio based fertilization, conventional fertilization, bio + conventional fertilization, and no fertilization. The soil samples were collected at three growth stages of plants: vegetative, flowering and harvesting and analyzed for microbial abundance, microbial biomass carbon, soil organic matter, soil pH and nutrient availability. Crop growth and yield related parameters were also measured throughout the growing season. The experimental design was randomized complete block design with four replications and the results obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) test was used to identify significant differences between the treatments at 5% probability level. The combined treatment of bio-based and conventional fertilizer had the highest values for all four measurements (soil microbial abundance, soil microbial biomass carbon, soil organic matter, crop growth and yield) compared to all other treatments, the bio-based fertilizer treatment alone, conventional fertilizer treatment alone, and the unfertilized control treatment. The soil pH also varied widely among the treatments, with the bio-based and combined treatments having more favorable pH compared to the conventional fertilizer treatment. The findings suggest that using bio-organic fertilizers especially in conjunction with lower use of conventional fertilizers may improve soil microbial diversity without compromising yield and quality of crops in order to achieve sustainable production systems. Effect of fertilization management for practice and further research are suggested.