Quality of Bokashi-Type Biofertilizer Formulations and Its Application in the Production of Vegetables in an Ecological System

Abstract

Current agriculture faces the challenge of producing food with the least interference from the environment. In this sense, the implementation of ecological agricultural practices is essential to obtaining healthy and more sustainable production systems. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of different inoculation technologies on formulations of bokashi-type biofertilizer and its application as soil and substrate organic amendment. We examined the effects of treatments on the chemical and biological quality of the evaluated formulations, as well as their influence on the agronomic and nutritional characteristics of red-beet and cabbage crops in the field. The metagenomic analysis of the taxonomic profile of the microbiological populations revealed relative abundance of plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial genera, including Azospirillum sp., Rhizobium sp., Bradyrhizobium sp., Burkholderia sp., Paraburkholderia sp., and Paenibacillus sp. in the evaluated formulations. Additionally, no phytopathogenic contaminants were detected among the investigated treatments. The highest yields of field-grown beet crops were obtained from seedlings produced using the following treatments: bokashi biofertilizer + biodynamic preparations P502-P507, bokashi + Chamomilla 12 CH, and bokashi + Carbo vegetabilis 12 CH. The increase in productivity of cabbage plants was higher in the treatment bokashi + Calcarea carbonica 12 CH.

Keywords

• ecosystem services
• functional microbiota
• soil health
• plant health
• microbiome assisted strategies
• organic agriculture