Home Organic Breakthrough Contact Us Improving Soil Fertility Naturally About Bactivate and Bactivate Plus Developments and News FAQs What is a Microbial Soil Conditioner? What are beneficial microorganisms? How do beneficial microorganisms build soil structure? How do beneficial microorganisms improve plant growth? How do beneficial microbes protect plants against plant root pathogens?
 

FAQs

    What is a Microbial Soil Conditioner?


A Microbial Soil Conditioner is a culture of beneficial microorganisms (special bacteria and/or fungi) formulated along with a suitable carrier material that helps the soils improve their nutrient status for proper plant growth and protection. These beneficial microorganisms can

 (1) increase phosphorous uptake,

 (2) make atmospheric nitrogen available and readily accessible to roots,

 (3) promote the growth of roots by releasing plant regulation substances, and

 (4) protect the roots from pathogenic microorganisms and give them a healthy environment for outstanding     plant growth and performance.

 Agriculture’s frequent practices such as tillage and site preparation can reduce the population of beneficial microorganisms, which are one of the most important components of the soil as they carry out many important processes, vital for soil fertility and health. Their re-introduction using a Microbial Soil Conditioner in areas where they have been reduced will bring back life into the soil, greatly recovering its quality, and therefore improving plant’s health and establishment.

 A Microbial Soil Conditioner acts as a natural biocatalizer by assuring a quick colonization of the rhizosphere and root mass with beneficial microorganisms that will re-establish a healthy soil and help the plant outperform.

 A healthy plant with a healthy rhizosphere, dominated by beneficial microorganisms will make the most to the plant’s advantage. Farmers will get real economic benefits by applying this biotechnology to their own farming practices.

 

 What are the effects of a Microbial Soil Conditioner?

 A Microbial Soil Conditioner can:


 1. Create organic matter

 2. Build soil structure

 3. Produce auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins and amino acids which help increase the chlorophyll and leaf are  of plants

 4. Fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, which is then transformed into ammoniacal NH3-N and absorbed by the plant.

 5. Produce acids that help release phosphate and potassium from the soil; and incorporate trace elements such as zinc,          copper, vanadium, manganese, silicon.

 6. Protect the soil by suppressing plant disease fungal organisms such as Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, Aspergillum and others.

 7. Create an ecological niche for all other beneficial microorganisms.

 8. Accelerate salt leaching

 

 What are beneficial microorganisms (bacteria & fungi)?


 Beneficial microbes are a large group of organisms that can be used as soil inoculants to increase the microbial diversity  of soils, improve soil’s quality, health, and the growth, yield, and performance of crops. These microorganisms are  sometimes unknown or not very well identified and the beneficial effects are difficult to predict.
 The beneficial microorganisms can help improve the effect of management practices such as crop rotations, incorporation of  organic amendments, conservation tillage, crop residue recycling, and biocontrol of pests.

 Bacteria are only observable when they grow in colonies on nutrient agar or under the light and electronic microscopes.  Bacteria carry out metabolic activities such as respiration, photosynthesis, and the synthesis of biological  macromolecules.  Bacteria have the ability to form a resting spore, which allow them to survive extreme periods of heat,   cold, and desiccation.


How do beneficial microorganisms build soil structure? 


Along with the fungi, bacteria are important decomposers in the ecosystem; they digest the organic matter in the soils into smaller nutrient components, which are then available to the plants. Bacteria produce enzymes that allow them to digest the different forms of organic matter compounds. The humic compounds and organic glues (extracellular polysaccharides), secreted by the microorganisms bind soil particles together into aggregates and in this way increase the soil porosity and soil structure. Soils with good structure and porosity will provide outstanding conditions for plant growth.
Plants use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, but they also use oxygen for respiration, which is the process whereby plants break down stored sugars and starches to use as the energy for growth. Plants get their oxygen by absorbing it in the root zone. Soils that have a poor soil structure will not have enough oxygen to successfully carry out respiration activities and do their best.

Soils with poor structure can greatly improve when a Microbial Soil Conditioner is incorporated into the soil. The beneficial microbes will then break down soil compounds, release organic glues, and facilitate the soil particles to re-aggregate, improving the soil porosity and structure. In this way, soils with a good structure will provide plants with the necessary oxygen in the root zone, as there will be an abundance of spaces for oxygen. A good soil structure will promote root growth and distribution, aeration and water penetration into the root zone.

It can be especially valuable to add Bactivate to the soil to improve its porosity and build its structure as these two factors will improve the soil-plant relationship and gain a superior plant establishment.


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 How do beneficial microorganisms improve plant growth?  
 
Many bacteria, called “Plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria” can encourage plant growth. They encourage plant growth directly and/or indirectly by

 producing plant regulators
 facilitating nutrient uptake
 accelerating mineralization
 reducing plant stress
 providing nitrogen fixation
 promoting other beneficial microorganisms such as ‘mycorrhizal fungi’
 suppressing plant diseases, and functioning as nematicides and insecticides.
Many of the “Plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria” are fluorescent pseudomonad (Pseudomonas fluorescens), but other bacteria, Bacillus sp., are known as well.

 Many wide-ranging beneficial Bacillus species have been formulated into Bactivate and are all set to help plants increase their growth and performance


 How do beneficial microbes protect plants against plant root pathogens?


The mechanisms by which beneficial microorganisms control diseases caused by plant root pathogens are not completely understood. Three modes of action can contribute to the protective activity of beneficial microbes: (1) competition for nutrients in soil and the rhizosphere, (2) competition for infection sites and root colonization, and/or (3) induced systemic resistance .


Pathogenic and beneficial microorganisms can occupy the same ecological niche, indicating that competition for infection sites is certainly one of the modes of action involved in bio-protection (Salerno et al. 2000). However, competition for infection sites alone does not necessarily fully explain all the bio-control activity of beneficial microbes.

Additionally, many microorganisms have the ability to induce systemic resistance against various pests and diseases. Induced resistance is defined as an enhancement of the plant's defensive capacity against a broad spectrum of pathogens and pests that is acquired after appropriate stimulation as for example, the presence of a beneficial microorganism in the rhizosphere. The resulting elevated resistance due to an induced agent upon infection by a pathogen is called induced systemic resistance or systemic acquired resistance. This is the activation of latent resistant mechanisms that are expressed upon subsequent inoculation with a pathogen .