Micorrized Jatropha Curcas English

Micorrized Jatropha curcas - Benefits The R&D project of Biovale envisages achieving cost-effective, environmental friendly alternatives to ensure • •

higher plant productivity in marginal lands, unproductive lands, reclaimed lands and wastelands created by the industry. The use of a beneficial group of microorganisms, known as mycorrhizal fungi, which form an association with the roots of higher plants.

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Documentation, preservation and characterization of J. curcas and mycorrhizal fungi germplasm Development of miocropropagated plants inoculated of ROC (Root Organ Culture) of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and their in vitro mass inoculum production Further upgradation and field demonstrations using mycorrhizal technology Bio-diesel Utilization and reclamation of industry created wastelands

Documentation, preservation and characterization of J. curcas and mycorrhizal fungi germplasm Wide diversity exists within the AM fungi, the symbiotic fungi, which form association with the roots of almost 80% plant species and enhance mineral nutrient acquisition and water uptake, as well as increase tolerance towards different environmental stresses conditions. To conserve and exploit their diversity, BioVale Project contemplates to build J. curcas and mycorrhizal fungi culture depository houses and maintain cultures from different agro-ecological zones, in the Northern of Brazil. The expected result is to trap isolate a variety of J. curcas and polysporal/monosporal cultures, setting up a J. curcas and mycorrhizal fungi germplasm collection to form an invaluable reservoir of genetic diversity of agriculturally and industrially important plant species and AM fungi. Development of ROC of different AM fungi and their mass inoculum production under in vitro The ROC system is the most attractive and advanced cultivation methodology for AM fungi: it uses root-inducing transfer-DNA-transformed roots of a host plant to develop the symbiosis on a specific medium in vitro which provides pure, viable, contamination-free inoculum using less space.

BioVale R&D Project aims at gaining expertise in ROC for in vitro culture and utilize mass production of AM fungi under in vitro.

Although the facts and figures of potential role of mycorrhizal association in enhanced nutritional and water needs of plants in laboratories, the major bottleneck for its widespread application to reach the end-users is its bulk production to cater the huge requirement. A known fact that culturing mycorrhizal fungi in laboratory conditions like other microbes was not possible due to its strict biotrophic nature of proliferation in the presence of suitable host has been the major reservation of its future contribution in agriculture. The mass inoculum technology envisages to exploit the genetically modified host roots using the Agrobacteriumum rhizogenes carrying Ri T-DNA plasmid. The technology offers the mass production of viable, healthy, genetically pure and high quality fungal propagules, without any pathogenic contamination under in vitro environment. Further upgradation and field demonstrations of mycorrhizal technology The mycorrhizal technology offers biological means of assuring plant health in an economically profitable and ecologically friendly manner. The only known fungal system categorized as a biofertilizer, mycorrhizae provide plant roots with extended arms that help them tap soil nutrients that are otherwise beyond their reach. For plants, this means better uptake of phosphorous, more nitrogen, and greater availability of other micronutrients-all different ways of fighting tough??? physical conditions, enriching soil, increasing health, and decreasing dependence on chemical fertilizers. The technology is commercially viable and tested at several edapho-climatic regions using many different crops and forestry plantations for its wide applicability. The tested plant species soybean, eucalypt, araucaria, strawberry, passion fruit, etc, which exhibited additional 4%–150% yield and a reduction of 25%–50% phosphatic fertilizers addition. Bio-diesel Jatropha, the energy plant has been well identified towards offering clean fuel for achieving energy security. Jatropha seeds inoculated with in vitro-raised mycorrhiza developed by exhibits early fruition and flowering from the 7th month onwards as against a year with conventional clonal plantations and

Mycorrhizal Jatropha

two years from seed raised plantations. The mycorrhized Jatropha also exhibited 20%–30% higher yields as compared to non-mycorrhizal plantations. The mycorrhized Jatropha are widely tested covering seven agro-climatic regions across the country and are planted to the magnitude of six lakh plants. These are proving to be well adaptable plantations in diverse wastelands (marginal lands, fly ash dykes, chlor alkali sludgeloaded wastelands, distillery effluent loaded wastelands, solar drying lagoons, nutritionally stressed soils, effluent generated from soft drink producers and several other cooperate plantations, etc.). Environmental amelioration using mycorrhizal technology Mycorrhized Jatropha has been working on the reclamation of environmentally vulnerable and uncultivable lands using mycorrhizal technology for more than a decade in India. The technology has proven its worth and potential in many sites, including fly ash overburdens, and land contaminated with distillery effluents, tannery effluent affected sites and chlor????? alkali sludge.

Mycorrhiza benefits both the plants and the environmentally vulnerable sites. Plant benefits include augmentation of the supply of phosphorus and trace elements (iron, boron, zinc, copper, etc.), and protection of plant roots from root diseases, high soil temperatures, and high salt concentrations. The hyphae of mycorrhiza can also bind soil particles, improve their aggregating capabilities, stabilize soil aggregates, and check leaching of important elements and heavy metals.

Incresing aggregated value of the residue J. curcas and glycerin after biodiesel prodution The seed kernels are rich in crude protein, CP (31–34.5%) and lipid (55–58%). The neutral detergent fibre contents of extracted J. curcas meals were between 3.9% and 4.5 % of dry matter (DM). The gross energy of kernels ranged from 31.1 to 31.6 MJ/kg DM. The contents of starch and total soluble sugars were below 6 %. The levels of essential amino acids, except lysine, were higher than that of the FAO/WHO reference protein for a five year old child in all the meal samples on a dry matter basis. At least, 30 to 50 % is residue after oil extraction and 10 % is glycerin. The commoner use of this residue is as soil organic fertilizer after composting since it posses a compound known as phorbol, that is toxic

to animals. Thus, the R&D aims at studying not only the composting process of J. curcas residues but also to evaluate the detoxification potential of white rot fungi for mushroom and animal meal. So, the residue could be transformed in other products with high aggregated value. Another problematic residue from bio-diesel industry is glycerin, which the research envisages to transform it in propionic acid and 1,3-propanodiol, using a specific group of bacteria. Propionic acid and 1,3-propanodiol that are important procucts to be added to animal meal for enhance milk and meet production of ruminant.