Rice is staple food of many countries in the Asia. Rice cultivation entails huge amount of chemical fertilizer application which causes environmental pollution and also creating problem for human health. Among the nutrient elements nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for rice production and unfortunately its use efficiency by the rice crop is very poor (30 to 50%). In the wetland field condition, ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-)are the primary forms of nitrogen that resulted immediate after urea application. Rice plant uptake about 40% of the applied nitrogen either as NH4+ or NO3- and rest of them are lost and back to the environment as NH3, NO2, N2O and NO3 that pollute air and water, respectively. The reactive forms of ammonia (NH3) that returned to the air via volatilization is major contributor to the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and causes serious air pollution and a threat to human health and biodiversity. Reduction of NO3 produced nitrous oxide (N2O) and it is a greenhouse gas having global warming potential 300 times higher than per molecule CO2 that destroying ozone layer of the atmosphere (Gu and Yang, 2022). Moreover, synthesis of nitrogenous fertilizer through the Haber-Bosch process burns about 2% of global energy (Sutton et al., 2013).
Global demand for food production forces intensive agriculture to lean toward synthetic fertilizer use and simultaneously increases risks of soil degradation by altering the earth’s biogeochemical processes. Among the agricultural inputs, synthetic fertilizers are required in huge amounts for crop production. Potential management of free-living N2 fixing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) may decrease the demand for synthetic N and P fertilizer requirements for rice production. Considering soil health and the environment, we hypothesized that BNF by free-living N2 fixing bacteria might compensate at least 30% of Nr in rice production, and co-composting of biodegradable kitchen waste with rock phosphate and PSB may fulfill the required P demand of rice and consecutively improve soil health via the addition of organic matter. Hence, a biofertilizer was produced that can supplement 30% N and eliminate 100% TSP i8n rice production. This biofertilizer may be a tool for climate smart rice production and also ensure safe food production with healthy environment. Front. Plant Sci. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.602052
Dr. Umme Aminun Naher