Effects on the Soil Microbial Diversity and Growth of Red Pepper by Treated Microbial Agent in the Red Pepper Field

Abstract

We investigated the effects on soil microbial diversity and the growth promotion of red pepper resulting from inoculation with a microbial agent composed of Bacillus subtilis AH18, B. licheniformis K11 and Pseudomonas fluorescens 2112 in a red pepper farming field. Photosynthetic bacteria, Trichoderma spp., Azotobacter spp., Actinomycetes, nitrate oxidizing bacteria, nitrite oxidizing bacteria, nitrogen fixing bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, cellulase producing bacteria, and urease producing bacteria are all indicator microbes of healthy soil microbial diversity. The microbial diversity of the consortium microbial agent treated soil was seen to be 1.1 to 14 times greater than soils where other commercial agent treatments were used, the latter being the commercial agent AC-1, and chemical fertilizer. The yield of red pepper in the field with the treated consortium microbial agent was increased by more than 15% when compared to the other treatments. Overall, the microbial diversity of the red pepper farming field soil was improved by the consortium microbial agent, and the promotion of growth and subsequent yield of red pepper was higher than soils where the other treatments were utilized.