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The Microbial Biotechnology Research Program, formerly the Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) Project of the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Sri Lanka, is the pioneering national initiative responsible for the country’s most extensively researched and locally developed eco-friendly microbial biofertilizers: the Rhizobium Biofertilizer (RBF) and the Biofilm Biofertilizer (BFBF). The program is widely recognized as Sri Lanka’s leading authority in biofilm biotechnology. As a government research institution, NIFS pioneered the research, development, and commercialization of microbial biofertilizers in Sri Lanka, in close collaboration with the University of Peradeniya. These efforts ultimately led to the development of eco-friendly, microbial biofertilizer-based practices, including organic and hybrid pellet fertilizers, marking a second green revolution in fertilizers since the first one in the 1960s in the country.
For more than four decades, NIFS has conducted research on eco-friendly fertilizers, with a strong emphasis on microbial formulations. To date, RBF for leguminous crops, which enables the elimination of urea application, and integrated eco-friendly fertilizer packages for paddy cultivation, incorporating BFBF as well as hybrid and organic pellet fertilizers, have demonstrated significant benefits. Long-term, extensive island-wide trials have shown that these technologies can reduce chemical NPK fertilizer usage by up to 50% while increasing paddy yields by approximately 20–30%. To date, these technologies have been deployed nationally across 700,000 acres.
In January 2026, two major projects were launched under this program:
At present, multiple field demonstrations and research activities are actively ongoing under both projects.