The Tamil Nadu Agriculture department’s carrier-based and liquid bio-fertilizer unit here, one of the five such units in the State, is all set to achieve this year’s production target of 100 metric tonnes of carrier based and 65,000 litres of liquid bio-fertilizers.
The unit at the district headquarters was established in August 1986 after the State government decided to promote bio-fertilizers, which functioned as a key player in sustainable agriculture by improving soil fertility, plant tolerance and crop productivity.
The second oldest in the State after Cuddalore, the unit has been producing powder form carrier based bio-fertilizers, mixed with pulverised lignite coal for about 28 years and began to produce liquid bio-fertilizer since 2014.
“We have been achieving the annual target of 100 MT of carrier based and about 50,000 litres of liquid bio-fertilizers and we are fully equipped to step up production to meet the growing demand,” P. Raja, Assistant Director of Agriculture (technical), who was in-charge of the unit, told The Hindu .
The unit produced two strains each in Azospirillum and Rhizobium – the free-living nitrogen-fixing bacterium and one strain in Phospo bacteria, for paddy, pulses, groundnut, and for all crops, he said.
The unit employed microbial filtration technology and produced the bio-fertilizers, he said.
“This year, we have produced an additional 20,000 litres of liquid bio-fertilizer to be supplied to the farmers who cultivated Kuruvai crops in Tiruvaru district, he said. The unit has also been catering to farmers in Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Coimbatore, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli, he added.
The carrier based bio-fertilizer was available in different quantities in packets and the liquid in high density polyethylene containers with details of date of manufacturing date, price and shelf life, he said.
Mr. Raja, who was also the Personal Assistant to Collector (Agriculture), said there had been an increased awareness among farmers of the use of fertilizers for sustainable agriculture and preserving soil health.
After the concept of organic farming caught up, farmers started using bio-fertilizers, while reducing the usage of chemical fertilisers, he said.
