Nutrient management in Piriformospora indica and Azotobacter sp. inoculated wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
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Date
2018
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
A field experiment entitled “Nutrient management in Piriformospora indica and Azotobacter sp. inoculated wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)” was conducted at Wheat Section, Research Farm, Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during rabi seasons of the year 2014-15 and 2015-16. The soil of the experimental site was loamy sand, having normal pH and electrical conductivity, low in organic carbon and available N, medium in available P and K. Three research experiments were conducted separately in split plot design with three replications to study the effect of P. indica and Azotobacter alone or in combination on wheat growth and productivity under varied levels of fertilization. In the first experiment single and combined inoculation of P. indica and Azotobacter along with un-inoculated control were kept in main plot in main plot and 4 levels of NPK (0%, 50%, 75% and 100% of recommended NPK) were kept in subplot. In the second experiment different methods of inoculation of P. indica (seed, soil and no inoculation) were studied under four different phosphorus levels (0%, 50%, 75% and 100% of recommended P) in main and subplot respectively. The third experiment was focused on Azotobacter inoculation (seed or soil or un-inoculated control) in main plot and varied doses of 0%, 50%, 75% and 100% of recommended N for enhancing growth and productivity of wheat. Results indicated that combined inoculation of P. indica and Azotobacter significantly improved the growth, yield attributing characters and yield of wheat as compared to un-inoculated control. The recommended NPK levels also significantly enhanced the wheat growth and productivity than the lower levels of its fertilization. Among the methods of inoculations seed inoculation of either P. indica or Azotobacter gave better values for all growth and yield attributing parameters but was statistically similar to soil inoculation of corresponding biofertilizers. Both seed and soil inoculation significantly enhanced the majority of growth and yield parameter over the un-inoculated control. The full (100%) recommended dose of N and P irrespective of inoculation methods of Azotobacter and P. indica respectively significantly enhanced the growth, yield attributing characters and yield than its corresponding lower recommended doses. The quality of wheat and the available NPK content after the harvest of crop was little influenced with the biofertilizers, but the significant effect was observed with the increase in fertilization levels. However, the NPK content, uptake and soil microbial count (CFU/ g soil) was greatly influenced by the inoculation of biofertilizers and increase fertilization levels.
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