Mass Production and Quality Control of Microbial Inoculants

Since the commercialization of inoculants in India during late seventies, microbial inoculants popularly known as biofertilizers have come a long way. The journey that started with Rhizobium has now been diversified and various types of microorganisms have joined the race and are not only being exploited for nutrient mobilization or plant growth promotion but also playing a key role in plant protection. But, in spite of good going, the actual utilization is nowhere near the potential. Majority of the research work done in the field was on development of strains, their mode of action and on explaining the science behind their potentiality. Very little work has been done to convert the science into technology. Quality enforcement measures, which were missing till 2006, have been addressed to some extent by incorporation of some formulations under the provisions of Fertilizer (Control) Order 1985, but still a lot needs to be done. The present paper briefly summarizes the scenario of microbial inoculants (mainly biofertilizers like Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Phosphate solubilizers, Potash solubilizers, Zinc solubilizers and mycorrhizal fungi) in terms of their mass production, technology involved, distribution, delivery of the product to the farmers and quality control issues.