Research Paper
Role of nano- agrochemicals in degradation of soil ecosystem and its quality management through Trichoderma atroviride
Author: MUSHTAQ AHMED, ,
Department of Botany, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India, E-mail: Mushtaq_bhu@rediffmail.com
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Abstract
Soil ecosystem is very important for agriculture that is a major sector to support the rapidly growing World population. There is under ground drinking water which is a natural resource of immense importance for the existence of human society on the Earth. It constitutes the major source of drinking water in both urban and rural areas all over the world. Climatic changes at global level have led to drastic reduction in agricultural soil fertility. This poses a serious threat to food security of man on this planet. Because of this, modern agricultural practices require the use of nano-formulations of chemical pesticides that are designed to be more reactive and more bioreactive than the existing pesticides. There is the real possibility that although smaller quantities of chemicals may be used, nano-materials may introduce even more serious ecological and health risks than the conventional pesticides they replace. Most of the nano-agrochemicals used in agricultural fields are cancerous. They may penetrate deep into the soil along with gravitational rain water and therefore, contribute to ground water pollution, which damages ecosystems and represnts additional health risks to people and animals. Therefore, to explore the possibility of supplementing the nano-agrochemicals with organic ones such as the biofertilizers of microbial origin, is the need of the day. A better alternative to the chemicals are the plant growth promoting soil microbes such as Pseudomonas, Trichoderma etc. that are known to enhance the growth and yield of crop plants. The soil fungus namely, Trichoderma atroviride was isolated from the rhizosphere of pea and its growth promoting ability was tested on lentil plants grown in soil amended with its inoculum. This rhizosphere fungus was found to enhance the growth as well as yield of lentil significantly
