PJB-2017-815
EVALUATION OF PHOSPHATE SOLUBILIZING BACTERIA ROLE WITH BIOCHAR ON THE GROWTH OF WHEAT
Nain Tara
Abstract
Deficiency of phosphorus (P) in calcareous soils significantly reduces plant growth and yield. High pH and more Ca availability are major hurdles in the way of phosphorus mobilization in the soil. The ability of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) to solubilize fixed P for plant uptake is a documented fact. As far as the co-application of PSB and biochar (BioC) for P mobilization is concerned, there are yet few investigations. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the co-application of PSB and BioC might be more effective and novel approach to make P readily available for plants. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria were isolated from the rhizosphere of maize, jawar and rice on Pikovskaya’s medium. On the basis of phosphorus solubilization capacity, three strains were selected while three purified PSB were collected from Soil Bacteriology Section, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad. Freshly prepared inocula of the PSB and wheat straw based BioC were treated to soil and seeds sown in axenic conditions. It was noted that co-application of PSB and BioC significantly enhanced the growth attributes in wheat seedlings. Treatments BioCM3 and BioCM5 performed best for the improvement in germination, and seedling fresh weight in P deficient soil. However, more P solubilization in soil and uptake in seedling was recorded due to M3+BioC and M5+BioC. It can be inferred from the results that the co-application of PSB and BioC is a better and efficient approach to enhance the bioavailability of P to wheat in P deficient, alkaline calcareous and low organic matter soils as compared to PSB inoculation or BioC application alone.
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