Co-inoculation of Azospirillum brasilense and Herbaspirillum seropedicae in maize

Janaína Dartora,Vandeir F Guimarães,Deniele Marini,Edilaine D V Gonçalves

doi:10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v20n6p545-550

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bacteria from the genera Azospirillum and Herbaspirillum have been associated with increments in maize yield. The aim of this study was to evaluate the maize yield and nutritional content in response to inoculation with A. brasilense and H. seropediceae in association with nitrogen (N) fertilization. The experimental design was randomized blocks in a 4 x 5 factorial scheme, with four replicates. The treatments consisted of seed inoculation (control without N and inoculation, A. brasilense strain - AbV5, H. seropediceae strain - SMR1 and co-inoculation AbV5 + SMR1) and N doses (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg ha-1). The following variables were evaluated: ear insertion height, ear length, ear diameter, number of rows per ear, number of grains per row, ear weight, yield and NPK contents in leaves and grains. There was no interaction between the factors studied. Co-inoculation with the strains promoted increments of 12% in leaf P content, compared with control, and N fertilization promoted increase in yield and leaf P content up to the maximum dose studied.

Highlights

Maize (Zea mays L.) constitutes an essential raw material in the manufacturing of a wide range of products, standing out as the main cereal produced in Brazil.Besides the participation in plant physiological processes, the supply of nitrogen (N) can affect maize growth and yield through alterations related to leaf area expansion and photosynthetic capacity (Gava et al, 2010)
There was no significant interaction between the inoculation of A. brasilense and H. seropedicae with N fertilization for the evaluated characteristics (Table 1)
Ear insertion height was influenced by inoculation and the control treatment showed higher mean in relation to the co-inoculation of strains of A. brasilense and H. seropediceae, but it did not differ from the isolated inoculation (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Maize (Zea mays L.) constitutes an essential raw material in the manufacturing of a wide range of products, standing out as the main cereal produced in Brazil.Besides the participation in plant physiological processes, the supply of nitrogen (N) can affect maize growth and yield through alterations related to leaf area expansion and photosynthetic capacity (Gava et al, 2010). Inadequate use and the high cost of N fertilizers have led to the research and development of new technologies aiming to establish a more sustainable agricultural production system. In this context, the association of growth-promoting bacteria from the genera Azospirillum and Herbaspirillum with grass crops of economic interest has stood out for benefiting plants through various mechanisms, such as biological N fixation (BNF), production of phytohormones and solubilization of phosphates (Bashan & De-Bashan, 2010). This study aimed to evaluate maize yield and nutritional content in response to the co-inoculation of A. brasilense and H. seropedicae in association with N fertilization

Objectives

Methods

Results