Tips to Increase Crop Yields and Boost Beneficial Microorganisms in Agriculture

For many years, soil microbiologists and microbial ecologists have tended to differentiate soil microorganisms as beneficial or harmful according to their functions and how they can improve soil quality, increase plant growth, increase soybean yield, and improve plant health. As shown in the list below, beneficial microorganisms are those that can fix atmospheric nitrogen, decompose organic wastes and residues, detoxify pesticides, suppress plant diseases and soil-borne pathogens, enhance nutrient THE CONCEPT OF cycling, and produce biological compounds such as vitamins, hormones and enzymes that stimulate plant growth. Harmful microorganisms are those that can induce plant diseases, stimulate soil-borne pathogens, immobilize nutrients, and produce toxic and putrescent substances that adversely affect plant growth and health.

What are the Functions of Beneficial Microorganisms?

• Fixation of atmospheric nitrogen
• Decomposition of organic wastes and residues
• Suppression of soil-borne pathogens
• Recycling and increased availability of plant nutrients
• Degradation of toxicants including pesticides
• Production of antibiotics and other bioactive compounds
• Production of simple organic molecules for plant uptake
• Complexation of heavy metals to limit plant uptake
• Solubilization of insoluble nutrient sources
• Production of polysaccharides to improve soil aggregation

What are the Functions of Harmful Microorganisms?

• Induction of plant diseases
• Stimulation of soil-borne pathogens
• Immobilization of plant nutrients
• Inhibition of seed germination
• Inhibition of plant growth and development
• Production of phytotoxic substances

The concept of Effective Microorganisms (EM) was developed by Professor Teruo Higa, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. EM consists of mixed cultures of beneficial and naturally-occurring microorganisms that can be applied as inoculants to increase the microbial diversity of soils and plants. Research has shown that the inoculation of EM cultures to the soil/plant ecosystem can improve soil quality, soil health, and the growth, increase crop yield, and increase agricultural production. EM contains selected species of microorganisms including predominant populations of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, and smaller numbers of photosynthetic bacteria, actinomycetes and other types of organisms. All of these are mutually compatible with one another and can coexist in liquid culture. EM is not a substitute for other management practices. It is, however, an added dimension for optimizing our best soil and crop management practices such as crop rotations, use of organic fertilizers, conservation tillage, crop residue recycling, and biocontrol of pests. If used properly, EM can significantly enhance the beneficial effects of these practices.

Efficient Utilization and Recycling of Energy

Agricultural production begins with the process of photosynthesis by green plants, which requires solar energy, water and carbon dioxide. It occurs through the plant’s ability to utilize solar energy in “fixing” atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. The energy obtained is used for further biosynthesis in the plant, including essential amino acids and proteins. The materials used for agricultural production are abundantly available with little initial cost. However, when it is observed as an economic activity, the fixation of carbon dioxide by photosynthesis has an extremely low efficiency mainly because of the low utilization rate of solar energy by green plants. Therefore, an integrated approach is needed to increase the level of solar energy utilization by plants so that greater amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide can be converted into useful substrates.

Although the potential utilization rate of solar energy by agricultural crops has been estimated theoretically at between 10 and 20 percent, the actual utilization rate is usually less than 1 percent. Even some C4 plants, such as sugarcane, with very high photosynthetic efficiencies, will seldom exceed a utilization rate of more than 7 percent during the maximum growth period. The utilization rate is normally less than 3 percent even for optimum crop yields.

Past studies have shown that photosynthetic efficiency of the chloroplasts of host crop plants cannot be increased much further; this means that their biomass production has reached a maximum level. Therefore, the best opportunity for increasing biomass production is to somehow utilize the visible light, which chloroplasts cannot presently use, and the infrared radiation; together, these comprise about 80 percent of the total solar energy. Also, we must explore ways of recycling organic energy contained in soybean crops, corn crops, and alfalfa crops through direct utilization of organic molecules by plants.

Thus, it is difficult to exceed the existing limits of crop production unless the efficiency of utilizing solar energy is increased, and the energy contained in existing organic molecules (amino acids, peptides and carbohydrates) is utilized either directly or indirectly by the plant. This approach could help to solve the problems of environmental pollution and degradation caused by the misuse and excessive application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to soils. Therefore, new technologies that can enhance the economic-viability of fanning systems with little or no use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are urgently needed and should be a high priority of agricultural research both now and in the immediate future.

Though we are highlighting how to increase crop yields through a better understanding of biological farming, Pro-Soil agricultural products can ensure agricultural success.

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