Grade: The second prize
Winners: Shen Qirong, Xu Yangchun, Yang Xingming, Huang Qiwei, Shan Xiaoming and Lu Jianming.
Collaborators：Nanjing Agricultural University, Jiangsu New Horizon Bio-Gertilizer Engineering Center Co., Ltd., Jiangyin Lianye Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Currently over 500 million mu of farmland for cash crops suffer from harm or damage by soil-borne disease in continuous cropping system in China, and some crops, such as banana, watermelon, cucmber and tomatoare in the danger of destroyed cultivation, causing an economic loss of about 150 billion RMB every year. An effective and efficient solutionto this issue is urgently called for. At the same time, a huge amount of agricultural wastes in China has been disposed anyway causing serious environmental pollution. The researchers of the present project have transformed these wastes intobio-organic fertilizers overcoming the biological barrier brought about in continuous cropping soil, proposing an important direction in developing resource-saving and environment-friendly fertilizers. The achievements made in the project are as follows:
(1) Screening and obtaining functional microorganisms characterized by antagonistic soil-bornepathogens, efficient protease and efficient composting.
They have screened 80 strains of functional microorganisms against soil-borne disease, from continuous cropping soil, two strains for biological preparationof amino acid fertilizer, five strains for efficient and rapid composting. 34 of the strains have preserved and registered in Institute of Biology of CAS. They have studied and identified the optimal conditions (C, N source, pH, and oxygen provision, and so on) for the growth of these functional microorganisms, and technological parameters of liquid fermentation of the strains with their intensity in the liquid being as high as over 1010CFU/ml.
(2) Revealing the environmental behavior and functional mechanism of functional microorganisms in the bio-organic fertilizer.
They have, for the first time, found and obtained the activelychanging method of the functional microorganisms in storing bio-organic fertilizer by FISH hybridization, have used GFP and successfully marked 14 antagonistic bacteria and revealed the behavioral characteristics of the bacteria in root aggregation, have added bio-organic fertilizer tonurseryseedling for oriented breeding of rhizosphere exogenous beneficial microorganisms to form a “biological film” on the surface of plant roots. Aftert ransplanted, the roots of nursery seedlings secrete substances which help the exogenous beneficial microorganisms continue to form the “biological film” on newly growing root surfaces in field condition, which at last form antagonistic abilities by secreting manyantagonistic substancesandthusfinally effectively prevent and control soil-borne diseases in continuous-cropping soils.
(3) Inventing technologies and processes of twice solid fermentation to manufacture bio-organic fertilizers.
The researchers of the project have developed a formula of bio-organic fertilizers and processes of twice twice solid fermentation. The resulted bio-organic fertilizers contain as much as 108-9CFU/g of functional microorganisms. The obligative organic carriers in the fertilizers are the “tasteful food” for the functional microorganisms in soils. The developed products have been applied to cash crops such as cucumber, water melon, tomato, banana, cotton, muskmelon, pepper, tabaco, potato, Chinese yam, and so on, with over 75% effect of soil-borne disease prevention and over 85% remediation of soils with continuous cropping biological barriers.
(4) Inventing processes of biological preparation of amino acid material forbio-organic fertilizer.
The researchers have invented processes that use efficiently secretive protease strains to hydrolyze solid waste proteins of animals and plants into amino acidsand polypeptides, providing microbiological processes of preparing agricultural amino acid fertilizers. This mixture contains109CFU/g of functional microorganisms, and when used a solid fermentation carries for bio-organic fertilizer production is of two orders of magnitude more efficient than conventional chemical acid-hydrolysis mixture.
(5) Creating new techniques of standardized rapid and efficient composting for bio-organicfertilizers, and developing related equipment. The new techniques shorten the composting periods from conventional two months to the current 15 days, and developed equipment costs only one fifth the price of imported equipment.
The present program has produced 56 SCIpapers, 10 of which have been published in high-ranked SCI journals; trained over 80 graduate students with two Ph. D candidates had their dissertations honored with nomination for the National Hundred Dissertation Award; received 20 authorized patents, including three PCT international patents, effective in the USA, and South Korea . Application of bio-organic fertilizers and amino acid fertilizers has been extended to 50 million mu of farmland in the country with an increase of income of over 39 billion RMB for farmers. The production of the fertilizers and equipment by recommended manufacturers has helped increase their profits and tax by about 759 million RMB. The projecthas helped farmer treat over 10 million tons of agricultural wastes and reduce the use of chemical fertilizer by about one million tons (equal to 120 million RMB), and has effectively reduced agricultural pollution. In 2010, the research achievement received a first prize of Jiangsu Province Science and Technology Award and Chinese Patent Award.
