Microbial Biotechnology for Organic Agriculture Farming

Reasons of health and sustainability of natural / organic farming makes the environment as one alternative to modern agriculture. Organic farming relies on natural ingredients and avoid any intake of synthetic smells, either in the form of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, or synthetic pesticides. However, farmers often complain of organic agriculture production which tends to lower productivity and more susceptible to pest attack. This problem could be overcome by using microbial-based biotechnology derived from sources of biological wealth of non-synthetic.

Soil is a habitat that is rich in diversity of microorganisms such as bacteria, aktinomicetes, fungi, protozoa, algae and viruses. Land-rich farmland contains more than 100 million microbes per gram of soil. Productivity and land carrying capacity depends on the activity of these microbes. Most soil microbes have a profitable role for agriculture. Including soil microbes play a role in degrading organic waste, agricultural waste, re-plant nutrient cycling, biological fixation of nitrogen from the air, dissolving phosphate, stimulating plant growth, plant pathogens biokontrol, helps the absorption of plant nutrients, and establish profitable symbiosis. Soil microbe-based biotechnology developed by utilizing important roles microbes land.

One of the fundamental problems that are often encountered when implementing organic farming is the soil organic matter content and soil nutrient status is low. Organic farmers to overcome these problems by providing a green manure or manure. Green fertilizer and manure is actually organic wastes that have been experienced so penghacuran become more available to plants. Organic waste such as waste leaves, seresah, dirt cattle can not be directly applied to the plant. Organic waste should be destroyed / dikomposkan advance by soil microbes into nutrient elements that can be absorbed by plants. Pengkomposan process naturally takes a very long time, ranging between six months to a year until the organic material is actually available to plants.

Organic waste destruction process can be accelerated by using microbial destroyer (decomposers) that has a high capacity. Use of this destructive microbes can shorten the process of decomposition of several months to a few weeks. In the market today are readily available biodekomposer products to accelerate composting process, for example: SuperDec, OrgaDec, EM4, EM Lestari, Starbio, Degra Simba, Stardec and others.

Dr. Didiek H Goenadi, Executive Director of Indonesian Plantation Research Institute, defines as a bioactive compost compost produced with the help of superior lignoselulolitik microbes survive in the compost and agensia biological role of plant disease control. SuperDec and OrgaDec, biodekomposer products developed by the Agriculture Biotechnology Research Center Indonesia (BPBPI), was developed based on that philosophy. Biodekomposer microbes used are superior Trichoderman pseudokoningii, Cytopaga sp, and fungi white pelapuk. Microbes are able to accelerate the composting process to be about 2-3 weeks. Microbes remain alive and active in the compost. When the compost is applied to the soil, the microbes will contribute to control pathogenic microbes causing plant diseases.

Advantages using bioactive compost for organic farming in addition to speed composting time and provides high-quality compost, also serves as a biological agensia to control plant diseases, especially diseases that attack from the ground. Concerns organic farmers will plant more vulnerable to diseases that could be solved by using bioactive compost.

Organic farmers are allergic to the chemical fertilizers or other synthetic fertilizers. To meet the nutrient needs of crops, organic farmers generally rely on compost as the main source of plant nutrients. Unfortunately, low compost nutrient content. Mature compost approximately haranya content: 1.69% N, 0.34% P2O5, and 2.81% K. In other words a hundred pounds of compost equal to 1.69 kg of Urea, SP 36 kg of 0:34, and 2:18 kg of KCl. For example to cultivate rice that needs haranya kg urea / ha, kg SP 36/ha and KCl kg / ha, then the compost is needed more or less as much as tons of compost / ha. Number of compost requires such a large workforce more and also have implications on the cost of production.

Soil microbes that play a lot in the provision of nutrient absorption maupaun for plants. Three essential plant nutrients, namely nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potassium (K) all involve soil microbial activity. Hara N actually is abundant in the air. Approximately 74% of air content is N. However, N air can not be directly absorbed by plants. None of the plants that can absorb N from the air. N must difiksasi / ditambat by soil microbes and changed its shape becomes available for plants. Microbes have a mooring N bersimbiosis with plants and some are living freely around the plant roots. Mooring N symbiotic microbes, among others: Rhizobium sp. Rhizobium sp live in the root nodule legume crops (leguminose). Microbial mooring non-symbiotic N eg: Azospirillum Azotobacter sp and sp. Mooring N symbiotic microbes can only be used for leguminose plants only, while non-microbial symbiotic N mooring can be used for all types of plants.

Other soil microbes that play a role in the provision of plant nutrients is solvent microbial phosphate (P) and potassium (K). Lands long given superphosphate fertilizer (TSP / SP 36) is generally its P content is high (saturated). However, this P-nutrient little / not available to plants, because the bound on clay minerals are difficult to dissolve dirt. This is where the role of microbial solvent P. These microbes will break the bonds P soil of clay minerals and make them available for plants. Lots of microbes that can dissolve P, among others: Aspergillus sp, Penicillium sp, Zerowilia lipolitika, Pseudomonas sp, ..., ... ... ... ... microbes are capable of dissolving high-P, are also generally highly skilled in dissolving K.

Other microbial groups that also play a role in the absorption of P elements is Mikoriza. At least there are two types of arbuscular which is often used for biofertilizer, namely: ektomikoriza and endomikoriza. Ektomikoriza often found on plants hard / woody, while endomikoriza found in many plants, both woody plants or not. Arbuscular bersimbiosis live on plant roots. Arbuscular role in helping dissolve P and P nutrient absorption by plants. Also bermikoriza plants are also generally more resistant to drought. Examples arbuscular are often found in Glomus and Gigaspora sp sp.

Some soil microorganisms are also capable of producing plant hormones that can stimulate plant growth. Hormone produced by the microbes will be absorbed by the plant so the plant will grow faster or bigger. Group of microbes that could produce plant hormones, among others: Pseudomonas sp and Azotobacter sp.

Soil microbes are beneficial to dissolve nutrients, helps absorption of nutrients, and stimulate plant growth is formulated in a special carrier material and used as a biofertilizer for organic agriculture. The results of research conducted by BPBPI find that at least biofertilizer can supply more than half the crop nutrient needs. Biofertilizer developed by BPBPI include: Gold, Rhiphosant, Kamizae, and Simbionriza.

Pests and plant diseases is one serious obstacle in organic cultivation. The types of plants that used to be protected by chemical pesticides such as the types of hybrids, are generally very rentah of pests and diseases when grown with organic systems. Nature actually has provided a natural protection mechanism. In nature there are microbes can control these pathogens organisms. Microbial pathogens or organisms will attack the plant when the population imbalance between microbial pathogenic organisms controller. Here the number of pathogenic organisms more than the number of microbial controls. If we can menyeimbangakan second population of these organisms, the pests and diseases can be avoided.

Microbes that can control the plant pests include: thurigiensis Bacillus (BT), Bauveria bassiana, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus, and Metharizium anisopliae. These microbes are able to attack and kill various insects become pests of plants. Microbes that can control plant diseases such as: Trichoderma sp. Trichoderma sp able to control plant diseases caused by Gonoderma sp, JAP (white root fungus), or Phytoptora sp.

Biotechnology products microbes almost entirely on natural ingredients. These products can meet the needs of organic farmers. The need for soil organic matter and plant nutrients can be filled with bioactive compost and composting activator. Biofertilizer application in organic agriculture can supply nutrient needs of plants that had been filled from chemical fertilizers. Pests and plant diseases can be controlled by using biocontrol.

During this Indonesian farmers who apply organic farming systems rely on compost and tend to let the attack of pests and plant diseases. With the availability of microbe-based biotechnology, organic farmers do not need to concerned with the problem of availability of organic matter, nutrients, and pests and plant diseases.