BayCEER Workshop 2020

POTENTIAL AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS OF ALGAE AS A BIOFERTILIZER

P 3.13 in Research Poster Kaleidoscope

In recent years, global attention has focused on raising agricultural production due to the rapid increase in the world's population. However, some unconscious applications have caused the depletion of natural resources such as soil, water, and biological diversity. For instance, to gain high agricultural yields per unit area, synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides have used extensively (Özdemir et al., 2016). It is known that chemical fertilizers have a harmful effect on soil, plants, and the environment. Plants can take a very small portion of the chemical fertilizers applied to the soil.  The remaining massive part of the chemical fertilizers is transported by irrigation water. With combining this sources of underground and surface water, it pollutes the atmosphere and alters the soil structure over time. Interest in organic agriculture has increased in recent years to reduce this impact. According to the related literature, algae can be used as an alternative to fertilizer in organic agriculture.

 

Algae are mainly autotrophic organisms that are a large group ranging from single-celled to multicellular. Algae are non-polluting species and are also a cheap source of food for plants. In addition to macronutrients such as N, P, they also contain micronutrients that promote plant growth. (Sruthi et al., 2016).

 

Various studies in the literature on the use of different macro and microalgae species for soil enhancers and fertilizers in agricultural applications are available. This study reviews the literature on the use of algae biomass in agriculture and to determine its effectiveness as a biofertilizer.

Keywords: Algae, Bio fertilizer, Organic agriculture, Yield