Since fungus decomposes dead
organisms, these can be of high value in agriculture. Thus the idea to utilize
fungi in agriculture came to existence. Furthermore, fungi also produce humus and
this is one among natural sources of plant nutrients. Now-a-days fungi is used
for biological pest controlling in many regions of the world. Mycorrhizal associations
with many higher plants are also one of those major roles played in agriculture
industries.
Below
are some of the important roles of fungi in agriculture –
FUNGUS IN HUMUS FORMATION
When
plant body and animals are dead, they contribute to the big heaps of organic
wastes. Agricultural wastage, forest litter, etc. also plays a vital role in
organic or bio-waste formation. Almost all fungi along with bacteria are the
key of degradation of these organic wastes which makes our environment clean.
When fungi degrade such organic wastes, these generate a kind of organic
nutrient for plants called humus. All plant nutrients required for
growth and development is actually locked in plant and animal bodies in a
complex form. Fungi degenerates these and makes them available in simpler form
which is called called humus. So, humus is
none other than degenerated plant and animal bodies.
During the formation of
this humus, some amount of Carbon-di-oxide gas (CO2)
is also formed, which is utilised by green plants during photosynthesis. Humus is
basically a degenerative product of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, proteins,
nucleic acid, etc. The major part of the humus consists of Humic
acid, Humins, Fulvic acid, etc.
Because
of its nutrient-rich nature, humus maintains physical and
chemical properties of soils supporting various biological activities.
During humus formation, all those complex organic molecules
are degraded in steps. I’ve mentioned below some of complex organic molecules
along with the fungi degrading them –
Cellulose: Aspergillus,
Penicillium, Chaetomium, Fuscarium, Frichoderma, Cladosporium, Alternaria,
Humicola, Phoma, etc.
Hemicellulose: Aspergillus,
Penicillium, Fusarium, Chaetomium, Glomerella, etc.
Pactin: Aspergillus,
Penicillium, Fusarium, Rhizopus, Monilia, etc.
Lignin: Many white rod fungi
of Basidiomycotina and many Agaricus.
And
thus fungi enriches minerals and other nutrients in soil increasing fertility.
FUNGI IN BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF PESTS
When
we use one specific organism to control other organism, its called biological
control. In many parts of the world, many fungi species have been
successfully used to control over many kind of plant pests, such as pest
fungi (antagonism), many insects and nematodes. Cordyceps
melonhae, Aschrsonia aleyroids, Empausa sapulcrhalis,
etc. are often used as insecticides to control different types of insects. If
we use fungi as pesticides, then there will be no environmental hamper at all.
These kinds of practices of fungal remedies should be encouraged by both
government and non-profit organizations.
FUNGI IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHES
Although
fungal infections are treated as destructive issues, but still its research
related potentiality cannot be ignored. Many fungi species are used in the
production of many enzymes and also some are used to detect the presence of
some elements in soil. Neurospora sp. is used for genetical
and biochemical researches. Studies carried on the Neurospora resulted
the One gene on enzyme hypothesis. Many species of Saccharomyces and Aspergillus are
also used in various agricultural researches. For the detection of Copper in
soil, Aspergillus niger is used. Similarly, for the detection
of Arsenic traces in the sample Scopulatropsis sp. is
used. These are just few examples of agricultural research related usage of
fungi. The real area is still growing day by day.
Prema Iswary,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Botany.
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