Improving Wheat Growth and Yield through Application of Compost and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria under Deficit Irrigation in a Sandy Soil

Abstract

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. The effectiveness of a mixture of two plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, PGPR, (i.e. B. subtilis EF1 and P. fluorescens KW1) and four compost application rates (0.00, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0% W/W) under three irrigation water quantities (1.0, 0.8 and 0.6 from crop evapotranspiration, ETc) was studied in a sandy soil cultivated with wheat plant (Triticum aestivum L.). The results showed that, the shoot of 90-day old plants and straw and grain yields of 120-day old plants wheat were increased with increasing the added amount of both irrigation water and compost. The highest grain and straw yields were obtained under the treatment 1.0 ETc + 1.0% compost with the biofertilizer where the increases over the corresponding control were 87.1 and 34.4%, respectively. No significant difference was observed in water productivity between 1.0 and 0.8 ETc. Relative water content and electrolyte leakage of the 90-day old plants were found to be enhanced by raising the amounts of the studied factors. The current study suggested that, 20% of irrigation water used for wheat might be saved by applying 1.0% compost and the biofertilizer without any significant reduction in wheat yield.