Indigenous plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria and chemical fertilisers: impact on wheat (Triticum aestivum) productivity and soil properties in North Western Himalayan region

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Sood ◽  
Rajesh Kaushal ◽  
Anjali Chauhan ◽  
Shaweta Gupta

High levels of crop productivity cannot be sustained by chemical fertiliser application alone. In order to mitigate this, a 2-year study was conducted to test the effects of combined application of indigenous plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and chemical fertilisers on productivity of wheat and soil properties. Ten morphologically distinct indigenous PGPR isolates from wheat roots and rhizosphere were evaluated at Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India, during 2013–14. Three PGPR isolates (B2, SIR1 and BIS2) with maximum PGP traits were screened at different doses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) (80%, 60% and 40% of recommended fertiliser dose, RFD) under net-house conditions. Two isolates, B2 (Serratia sp.) and SIR1 (Bacillus subtilis), along with the optimum NP dose (i.e. 80% RFD) were selected for field experimentation, which was performed over two consecutive years, 2014–16. Combined application of 80% RDF of NP with PGPR (B2) significantly increased wheat yield by 9.4%, number of tillers per plant by 28.03%, grain number per spike by 19.61%, 1000-grain weight by 10.5%, and biomass by 9.2% relative to the uninoculated control with 100% RFD. Soil properties in the terms of available N, P and potassium, microbial biomass carbon, soil enzyme activities and population of phosphate-solubilising bacteria in the wheat crop were significantly increased by the combined application of bacterial inoculants with 80% RFD of NP in both years over the uninoculated control. Therefore, the results revealed the potential of indigenous PGPR isolates to supplement ~20% of NP fertilisers without hampering the soil fertility and productivity of wheat.

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 894
Author(s):  
Emad M. Hafez ◽  
Hany S. Osman ◽  
Usama A. Abd El-Razek ◽  
Mohssen Elbagory ◽  
Alaa El-Dein Omara ◽  
...  

The continuity of traditional planting systems in the last few decades has encountered its most significant challenge in the harsh changes in the global climate, leading to frustration in the plant growth and productivity, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions cultivated with moderate or sensitive crops to abiotic stresses. Faba bean, like most legume crops, is considered a moderately sensitive crop to saline soil and/or saline water. In this connection, a field experiment was conducted during the successive winter seasons 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 in a salt-affected soil to explore the combined effects of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and potassium (K) silicate on maintaining the soil quality, performance, and productivity of faba bean plants irrigated with either fresh water or saline water. Our findings indicated that the coupled use of PGPR and K silicate under the saline water irrigation treatment had the capability to reduce the levels of exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) in the soil and to promote the activity of some soil enzymes (urease and dehydrogenase), which recorded nearly non-significant differences compared with fresh water (control) treatment, leading to reinstating the soil quality. Consequently, under salinity stress, the combined application motivated the faba bean vegetative growth, e.g., root length and nodulation, which reinstated the K+/Na+ ions homeostasis, leading to the lessening or equalizing of the activity level of enzymatic antioxidants (CAT, POD, and SOD) compared with the controls of both saline water and fresh water treatments, respectively. Although the irrigation with saline water significantly increased the osmolytes concentration (free amino acids and proline) in faba bean plants compared with fresh water treatment, application of PGPR or K-silicate notably reduced the osmolyte levels below the control treatment, either under stress or non-stress conditions. On the contrary, the concentrations of soluble assimilates (total soluble proteins and total soluble sugars) recorded pronounced increases under tested treatments, which enriched the plant growth, the nutrients (N, P, and K) uptake and translocation to the sink organs, which lastly improved the yield attributes (number of pods plant−1, number of seeds pod−1, 100-seed weight). It was concluded that the combined application of PGPR and K-silicate is considered a profitable strategy that is able to alleviate the harmful impact of salt stress alongside increasing plant growth and productivity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shweta Gupta ◽  
Rajesh Kaushal ◽  
Kirti Kaundal ◽  
Anjali Chauhan ◽  
Ranjit Singh Spehia

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1262
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Artyszak ◽  
Dariusz Gozdowski

The strategy “from farm to fork” assumes a reduction in the usage of fertilizers and plant protection products in EU agriculture. The aim of this study, conducted over the years 2017–2019 in several locations in Poland, is to evaluate the application of growth activators with and without plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to reduce mineral nitrogen fertilization without negative effects on the root yield. We studied the effect of these activators on selected soil properties. The experimental treatments included the application of the growth activators Penergetic (K + P) and Azoter, which contains the bacteria Azotobacter chroococcum, Azospirillum brasilense, and Bacillus megaterium, before sowing or during vegetation. The nitrogen rates were reduced by 30% in comparison to full nitrogen mineral fertilization (control treatment). In selected experiments, the application of Penergetic and Penergetic with Azoter caused a higher content of nitrate nitrogen (N-NO3) and ammonium nitrogen (N-NH4) after the sugar beet harvest as well as higher contents of mineral nitrogen (Nmin), P, K, and Mg in the soil in comparison to the treatment with the full dose of mineral nitrogen fertilization. The obtained results proved that it was possible to reduce the mineral application of nitrogen by 30% without a decrease in the biological and pure sugar yield, and even with an increase in the sugar yield caused by the application of the growth activators Penergetic (K + P) and Azoter.


Author(s):  
Becky N. Aloo ◽  
Billy A. Makumba ◽  
Ernest R. Mbega

The world’s population is increasing and so are agricultural activities to match the growing demand for food. Conventional agricultural practices generally employ artificial fertilizers to increase crop yields, but these have multiple environmental and human health effects. For decades, environmentalists and sustainability researchers have focused on alternative crop fertilization mechanisms to address these challenges, and biofertilizers have constantly been researched, recommended, and even successfully-adopted for several crops. Biofertilizers are microbial formulations made of indigenous plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) which can naturally improve plant growth either directly or indirectly, through the production of phytohormones, solubilization of soil nutrients, and production of iron-binding metabolites; siderophores. Biofertilizers, therefore, hold immense potential as tools for sustainable crop production especially in the wake of climate change and global warming. Despite the mounting interest in this technology, their full potential has not yet been realized. This review updates our understanding of the PGPR biofertilizers and sustainable crop production. It evaluates the history of these microbial products, assesses their present state of utilization, and also critically propounds on their future prospects for sustainable crop production. Such information is desirable to fully evaluate their potential and can ultimately pave the way for their increased adoption for crop production.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Gölgen Bahar Öztekin ◽  
Yüksel Tüzel

This study was conducted in order to determine the effects of oxygen enrichment of nutrient solution coupled with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria on soilless grown iceberg lettuce (cv. ‘Papiro’) production. Seeds were treated with Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas putida, P. fluorescens, P. punonensis and combined application of B. subtilis + P. fluorescens and were sown into vermicompost : peat (1 : 1.5, v/v) mixture on January 14th, 2015. After germination in growth chamber, seedlings were moved to a greenhouse for seedling growing till they were ready for planting. Seedlings were transplanted to the polyethylene greenhouse 35 days after sowing. Perlite as growing medium was used in open-system soilless culture. Nutrient solution was aerated with an air compressor and applied to plants 2 days after planting with drip irrigation. To diffuse oxygen into nutrient solution in large bubbles, a circular air-stone commonly used in fisheries was used. The nutrient solution without oxyfertigation and plants not treated with bacteria constituted the control treatment. Experiments were conducted in randomized plots design with 2 factors and 3 replications. Heads were harvested 2 months after transplanting. Yield and head quality parameters of head were determined. It was concluded that oxygen enrichment of nutrient solution through a compressor (aeration) provided increases in yield and plant growth. Especially root development, head size and leaf number were higher in plants grown with aerated nutrient solution. Among the tested bacteria, B. subtilis, P. fluorescens and B. subtilis + P. fluorescens were found promising due to the their higher performance under aerated conditions on greenhouse lettuce grown in perlite.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-355
Author(s):  
Safiullah Habibi ◽  
Salem Djedidi ◽  
Naoko Ohkama-Ohtsu ◽  
Wakil Ahmad Sarhadi ◽  
Katsuhiro Kojima ◽  
...  

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