FORMULATION OF BIOINOCULANTS OR MICROBIAL INOCULANTS
- Microbial Inoculants can be applied to the crops by different formulations like
I.
Carrier based
inoculant
II.
Liquid based
inoculant
III.
Alginate bead based
inoculant.
I) CARRIER BASED INOCULANT
- Carrier
is defined as the medium in which microorganisms allowed to multiply.
- Various
types of material are used as Carrier for Seed or Soil inoculation.
- For
preparation of Seed inoculant, the Carrier material is milled to fine
powder with particle size of 10 - 40 μm.
- Peat
is the most frequently used Carrier material for Seed inoculation.
- For soil inoculation, Carrier material with granular form (0.5 – 1.5 mm) is generally used. Granular forms of Peat, Perlite, Charcoal, Talcum powder or Soil aggregates are suitable for soil inoculation.
Carrier
materials used for Microbial
Inoculants
a)
Celite
b)
Cellulose powder
c)
Charcoal
d)
Cheese whey
e)
Coal
f)
Coconut shell
g)
Compost/Vermicompost material
h)
Diatom
i)
Kaolin
j)
Leaf manure
k)
Lignite
l)
Mineral soils/ Soil aggregates
m)
Oxalic acid
n)
Peat
o)
Perlite
p)
Porosil
q)
Pressmud
r)
Rice husk
s)
Sugarcane bagasse
t)
Talcum powder
u)
Vermiculite
v)
Wastewater sludge
w) Wheat bran
Characteristics of good Carrier material
a)
Non – toxic to Inoculant microbial stain and
Plants.
b)
Good moisture adsorption capacity.
c)
Easy to sterilize by Autoclaving or Gamma –
irradiation.
d)
Easy access for mixing with Bioinoculants.
e)
Available in adequate amounts.
f)
Low cost.
g)
Good adhesion to seeds.
h)
Good pH buffering capacity.
i)
Organic matter content should be around 40 %.
j) Water holding capacity should be more than 50 %.
Preparation
of Carrier materials for Seed or Soil inoculation
Step 1: Drying
and Grinding of the Carriers
- Sundry
upto 5 %.
- Grind
and pass through 100 – 200 µ Sieve.
- Survival of microorganisms is poor in Coarse material.
Step 2:
Pre-treatment of the Carriers
- Mix
with Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) powder, neutralize and pH is
adjusted to 6.5 to 7.0.
- The amount of CaCO3 can be added according to the Acidity of the Carrier material.
Step 3:
Sterilization of the Carrier materials
- Sterilization
of Carrier material is essential to keep high number of inoculant bacteria
on carrier for long storage period.
- Gamma-irradiation
is the most suitable way of Carrier sterilization, because the
sterilization process makes almost no change in physical and chemical
properties of the material. Carrier material is packed in thin-walled
polyethylene bag, and then gamma-irradiated at 50 kGy (Kilogray).
- Another way of carrier sterilization is Autoclaving. Carrier material is packed in partially opened, thin-walled polypropylene bags and autoclaved for 60 min at 121 °C. It should be noted that during autoclaving, some materials changes their properties and produce toxic substance to some bacterial strains.
Step 4:
Inoculation of microorganisms to the Carrier materials
- Prepare
microbial starter culture for inoculation. Optionally, appropriately
dilute with sterile water for moisture and cell number adjustment.
- Inject
the culture to the carrier package using a sterile disposable plastic
syringe with a needle.
- Keep the package at appropriate temperatures for maturation and storage. Although the temperatures suitable for maturation and storage are dependent on the inoculant microorganisms, 30 °C for maturation and 20 °C - 30 °C for storage will be suited for inoculants in most cases.
Advantages
of Carrier based Inoculants
ü Low cost
ü Easy to
produce
ü Less investment
Disadvantages
of Carrier based Inoculants
ü Low Shelf
– life
ü Temperature
sensitive
ü Contamination
prone
ü Low cell
counts
ü Less effective than Liquid based inoculants
II) LIQUID BASED MICROBIAL INOCULANTS
· Respective
Culture broth was prepared and mixed in combination with different additives to
increase the survival of Microbial Inoculants in a Liquid formulation.
·
Wetter
like Triton & Tween with 0.5, 1.0
and 1.5 % concentration; Stickers
like Carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) & Gum Arabic with 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 %; Humectants –
Glycerol, Trehalose & Polyvinyl pyrollidone (PVP) with 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 % were used to increase
the survival of microbial inoculants.
· One ml of log
phase culture of Microbial Inoculants was inoculated as single inoculant
in respective broth and the flasks were incubated at room temperature.
·
The formulation
was analyzed for viable cell population at 1 month interval upto 12 months.
Advantages of Liquid based Microbial Inoculants
ü
Longer Shelf –
life (12 to 24 months)
ü
No
contamination
ü
No loss of
properties due to storage upto 45 °C
ü
Product can be
100 % sterile
ü
Better survival
population on Seed and Soil
ü
More effective
than Carrier based inoculants
ü
Very easy to
produce
ü
Very easy to
use by farmers
ü
Temperature
tolerant
ü
High export
potential
ü
High commercial
revenues
Disadvantages of Liquid based Inoculants
ü
High cost
ü
High investment
for production unit
III) ALGINATE BEAD BASED MICROBIAL INOCULANTS
·
The microbial inoculants were grown in
respective Culture broth.
· Two grams of
Sodium alginate was added to
100 ml of Culture broth of Microbial inoculants
and it was mixed for 30 mins in a Magnetic stirrer.
· The mixture was added drop wise through
a 10 ml syringe into 100 ml sterile 0.1N
CaCl2 to obtain uniform Alginate beads.
· One gram of material contained 16 to 17 beads, each bead approximately weighing 60
mg.
· The beads were
washed twice in sterile distilled water and incubated in respective broth containing microbial inoculants for
seven days in an incubator at room temperature to allow microbial inoculants to multiply
inside the beads.
· The beads were again washed in sterile distilled water and air dried in Laminar air flow chamber under aseptic condition. The alginate beads were then stored in Polythene bags at room temperature upto 6 months.
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