Nursery Inoculation of the Selected Vegetable Seedlings with A Microbial Consortium and its Field Performance in Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)
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Date
2016-06
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University of Agricultural Science, Dharwad
Abstract
A microbial consortium was prepared which consisted of Azospirillum ACD 15, Pseudomonas striata, potassium solubilizing bacterium KSB 27, Pseudomonas spp. B 15, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Glomus macrocarpum after compatibility testing. This microbial consortium was mixed with cocopeat, a nursery medium used for raising vegetable seedlings in protrays. It was mixed at different doses viz., 1 g kg-1, 3 g kg-1 and 5 g kg-1 of cocopeat. Seeds of selected vegetables namely tomato, brinjal, chilli, capsicum, cabbage and cauliflower were sown in the treated cocopeat. The nursery studies revealed that the cocopeat treatment with the microbial consortium @ 5 g kg-1 of cocopeat was the best treatment. It helped in production of quality and healthy transplantable seedlings with better growth parameters.
Further, the microbial consortium treated-brinjal seedlings were evaluated in a farmer’s field, with graded levels of NPK fertilizers. In general, the microbial consortium treated seedlings exhibited higher plant growth and yield parameters viz., plant height, chlorophyll content, biomass production, nutrient uptake and yield over uninoculated control. Among the treatments, the treatment receiving 50 per cent recommended level of NPK fertilizers showed significantly higher plant growth and yield parameters. The rhizosphere microbial population and enzymatic activities were also higher in the consortium-treated seedlings when compared to control. Microbial consortium with 50 per cent recommended level of NPK fertilizers was found to be the best treatment, which resulted in 17.06 per cent increase in the yield and better economic returns.