Building a Future-Ready India: Innovation, Skills, Sustainability and Human Values (ISBN : 978-93-49468-84-9)

Biofertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture and Carbon Credit Generation: Benefits and Prospects

Author: Shivangi Zaveri & Sumita Dasgupta

Sustainable agriculture refers to a farming system that can be sustained indefinitely. It seeks to satisfy increasing demand for food while preserving natural resources, maintaining environmental quality, and securing agricultural productivity for generations to come. Conventional farming methods, which rely heavily on synthetic fertilizers and chemical inputs, have boosted crop output but have also driven soil degradation, nutrient imbalances, water contamination, loss of biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions. These consequences have spurred efforts to find eco-friendly alternatives capable of sustaining yields while reducing environmental harm. Among the various sustainable agricultural inputs, biofertilizers have emerged as an effective and eco-friendly solution. Biofertilizers are formulations containing beneficial microorganisms that enhance plant growth and nutrient availability through natural processes like nitrogen fixation, phosphate and potassium solubilization, and the synthesis of growth-promoting compounds. By improving soil fertility, encouraging root growth, increasing nutrient-use efficiency, and supporting healthy microbial populations in soil biofertilizers decrease reliance on chemical fertilizers, raise productivity, and help restore soil health. They also strengthen plant resilience to environmental stress, supporting sustainable crop production amid shifting climate conditions. Beyond these agronomic benefits, biofertilizers help to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the manufacture and excessive use of chemical fertilizers and by enhancing soil carbon sequestration. This creates a meaningful connection between biofertilizer-based farming and carbon credit systems, which offer financial incentives for practices that cut emissions or enhance carbon sequestration, encouraging wider adoption of climate-conscious farming approaches. This chapter explores sustainable agriculture's core principles, the drawbacks of chemical fertilizers, the classification and functions of biofertilizers, and their role in promoting soil health, environmental sustainability, and agricultural productivity. It also explores the relationship between biofertilizers and carbon credits, highlighting their combined potential to support resilient, low-carbon, and sustainable agricultural systems for future generations.

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