Influence of P-solubilizing bacteria on crop yield and soil fertility at multilocational sites

Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSBs) Pantoea cypripedii (PSB-3) and Pseudomonas plecoglossicida (PSB-5) isolated from organic field were studied for improvement of maize and wheat crop at multilocational sites with and without rock phosphate (RP) fertilization during two year of field study under different agroclimatic regions. Application of both the bacterial strains as bio-inoculants showed significant effect on maize and wheat grain yield and on soil fertility at all different agroclimatic regions. Grain yield, phosphorous (P) uptake, soil organic carbon, available P, enzyme activities and P-solubilizing bacterial population in all the experimental crop fields at different sites significantly increased due to inoculation. Improvement in crop yield and soil fertility at three different sites was more pronounced and significant when RP was supplemented along with seed inoculation compared to uninoculated control treatment. Present study results suggest that P. cypripedii (PSB-3) and P. plecoglossicida (P5B-5) along with RP fertilization play an important role in plant growth promotion and improvement of soil fertility in different agroclimatic regions. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.