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Journal of Agricultural Science and Botany | Volume: 2
November 15-16, 2018 | Paris, France
Plant Science
Natural Products,Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicines
International Conference on
Joint Event
&
I
t is now generally understood that natural porous materials
that exhibit a negative surface charge adsorb metal cations,
water (due to its dipole property) and other cations such as
ammonium NH4+. The latter plays an important role in soil
nitrification. Plant growth studies have shown that togetherwith
an organic component, either animal or plant waste, zeolitic
tuff in particular can be used to great advantage as a biological
plant fertilizer (bio-fertilizer). Experimental work has shown that
ammonium ions produced during decomposition of the organic
waste are adsorbed to the zeolite surface. On addition to the
soil, the ammonium ions are back exchanged by potassium and
oxidized by soil micro-organisms. Using molecular biological
technology Crenarchaeota appear to be the main ammonium
oxidizing organisms in the organo-zeolite-soil system. This
process greatly sponsors nitrification. The high ion mobility of
aqueous leachates suggests that hydrogen ions liberated by the
ensuing enzyme activity ionize cations from the plant substrate
providing elements in trace concentrations which are both
essential and beneficial for plant growth. The organic material
provides phosphorus but is not entirely clear how this element
is ionized; most likely due to the activity of mycorrhizal fungi.
Using activated carbon to replace zeolitic tuff in the bio-
fertilizer has resulted in a growth enhancement of
Brassica
napus
, within the experimental error of that grown with the
organo-zeolitic bio-fertilizer. Current work with diatomite also
appears to provide another alternative to the use of zeolitic tuff.
The use of such alternatives will extend the range of natural
materials required for the preparation of the bio-fertilizer
and so avoid the over exploitation of zeolitic tuff, although
world resources will be far from exhaustion in the near future.
When one considers the damage done to arable farmland due
to the long and over use of chemical fertilizers it is time to use a
more scientific approachandbio-fertilizers of the typedescribed
appeartobetheanswertoprovidingplantnutritioninthefuture.
Speaker Biography
Peter J Leggo after following an academic career in geology, ten years spent as a consultant
inmineralresources.Returningtoacademicresearch in1996thecurrentworkonbiological
fertilizers was pursued. Having now retired from the Department of Earth Sciences,
University of Cambridge further research in plant nutrition is conducted from a home base
but still using the university laboratory facilities.
e:
pjl46@cam.ac.ukPeter J Leggo
Cambridge University, UK
The Organo-Zeolitic bio-fertilizer: A new approach to Plant Nutrition
Peter J Leggo
, Plant science & Natural Medicine 2018, Volume 2
DOI: 10.4066/2591-7897-C1-001