Development of microbial inoculant for the growth of Ashwagandha (Withania angustifolia)
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Date
2007
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Publisher
CCSHAU
Abstract
A total of 104 isolates of rhizobacteria were obtained from
rhizosphere and rhizoplane of Ashwagandha plants collected from three
locations of Haryana. Of these 36 were from rhizosphere and 68 were
from rhizoplane. All the isolates were screened for their growth
promoting activities in terms of biomass production in sandy soil
without addition of any organic or inorganic fertilizers. Inoculation with
these isolates produced more plant biomass than control to a varying level. Only four isolates (HRP-7, RRP-8, and RRP-26 & YRP-11)
produced plant biomass more than 10 g /plant. Highest plant biomass
was produced by inoculation of isolate YRP-11 (16.49 g/plant) followed
by RRP-26 (15.86 g/plant). Isolate HRP-7 produced least plant
biomass. Isolates selected on the basis of higher plant biomass
production showed useful traits like nitrogen fixation, and production
of growth promoting substances like indole acetic acid. Inoculation
with selected isolates increased plant biomass more in presence of
farmyard manure than without farmyard manure. Mixture of these
isolates produced biomass at par with mixed biofertilizer formulation
containing Azotobacter and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria.
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Keywords
Rhizobacteria, Ashwagandha, Rhizosphere, Rhizoplane, Indole acetic acid, AR activity, Plant Biomass, Farm yard manure