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Role of Microbial Biofertilizers in the Development of a Sustainable Agriculture in the Tropics

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Soil Biology and Agriculture in the Tropics

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 21))

Abstract

The new social and economic world order has created new challenges for the development of agriculture in the tropics. Functional microbial biofertilizers have been used in some tropical countries for more than half a century in both small and large farms. Biological nitrogen fixation, plant growth promotion, phosphorus solubilization, and translocation to host plants are the major benefits of biofertilizer use, observed or claimed by researchers and product developers. However, a major constraint for the further development of the microbial biofertilizer industry is the demonstration of consistent field effects of the marketed products. This chapter discusses the main issues related to the functional characterization and promotion of microbial biofertilizer in tropical countries, and the potential of these biofertilizers as tools for small- and large-scale sustainable crop production.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Sandra Espitia and Tiffany Sosa R. for valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was made possible through Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural and Colciencias funds to D. Uribe and J. Vanegas respectively. We do not have any commitment or particular interests to any of the commercial products cited in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Biotecnologia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia, A.A 14-490

    Daniel Uribe & Javier Vanegas

  2. Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia, A.A 14-490

    Jimena Sánchez-Nieves

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  1. Daniel Uribe
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  2. Jimena Sánchez-Nieves
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  3. Javier Vanegas
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Correspondence to Daniel Uribe .

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  1. Dépt. Phytologie, Université Laval, avenue de la Médecine 1030, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Patrice Dion

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Uribe, D., Sánchez-Nieves, J., Vanegas, J. (2010). Role of Microbial Biofertilizers in the Development of a Sustainable Agriculture in the Tropics. In: Dion, P. (eds) Soil Biology and Agriculture in the Tropics. Soil Biology, vol 21. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05076-3_11

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