Biofertilizers in Iran: Opportunities and Challenges

Increase in the price of agricultural inputs, especially chemical fertilizers, has influenced agricultural production in recent years. Thus, overuse of fertilizers, which is utilization of large amounts of fertilizers, has no economic and environmental justification. Environmental hazards of chemical fertilizers, including degradation and compaction of soils and declining soil organic matter, have also important role in this trend. The idea of green revolution and minimum utilization of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and the increasing social attitude toward consumption of “organic” products have led to increasing interest in biofertilizers. Global changes in fertilizer economy and the necessity of paying attention to soil, crop, and public health have also placed biofertilizers in focus. Production of biofertilizers in Iran began a decade ago and although there is now a good condition for biofertilizers, it has experienced much fluctuation. However, there are scientific and executive challenges regarding different aspects of biofertilizers. Academic education here still lacks a clear stance on the subject and the research section does not have a road map for expanding the use of biofertilizers. On the other hand, most of the national biofertilizer producers are suffering from lack of Research and Development section and this negatively affects the quality of their products. Also, intellectual property right of producers has been influenced by lack of quality inspection agencies. While for many years there was huge governmental subsidy for chemical fertilizers, there was little opportunity for biofertilizers to be adequately introduced in the country. Most of the biofertilizers introduced during those years have faced different problems in spite of passing all steps of research, development and commercialization. However, lately, when providing subsidies for chemical fertilizers was limited, biofertilizers became more in focus. According to the governmental legislation N42963t/90765, 10 percent of the subsidies for chemical fertilizers is to be allocated to biofertilizers for more support and promotion of their use. Obviously, both approaches i.e. neglecting biofertizers or excessive promotion and attention are not wise and may not lead to a sustainable production. It seems that the best approach is to gradually increase the use of proper types of biofertilizers. This paper discusses the conditions of biofertilizers in Iran and its challenges from point of view of research, training, production, quality, and intellectual property right.