Daniel Uribe

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

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.