By Lisa Lock
Field trials in India show that bio-fertilizers containing naturally occurring soil fungi enhance growth in rice plants. This may offer a pathway to reducing farmers' reliance on synthetic fertilizers, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in rice farming. The trials, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge in partnership with U.K. rice brand Tilda and basmati farmers in India, tested fungi-based bio-fertilizers under real farming conditions.
These bio-fertilizers contain arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi—beneficial soil fungi that can live inside plant roots and help to extend their reach into the soil to collect nutrients.
In a report released today by Tilda, trial results show a yield boost of between 5% and 15% in basmati rice grown using synthetic and bio-fertilizers together, compared with rice grown using synthetic fertilizers alone.
"Every farmer in the trial saw increased rice yield in fields where they applied mycorrhiza-based bio-fertilizers, compared to the fields without it," said Dr. Emily Servante, a researcher in the University of Cambridge's Crop Science Center and lead scientist on the trial.
The trials took place on rice farms across northern India that use a water-saving irrigation technique called "Alternate Wetting and Drying," developed by the International Rice Research Institute. Rather than the traditional practice of continuously flooded paddy fields, the fields are allowed to dry intermittently before being re-flooded—with farmers using a simple tube inserted into the soil to determine when re-flooding is needed.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi thrive in the drier, more aerated soils that are becoming a key component of more sustainable rice production systems.
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