Inoculation with Microbial Consortium Promotes Growth of Tomato and Capsicum Seedlings Raised in Pro Trays

Abstract

Tomato and capsicum are important vegetable crops with wide usage in culinary. Inoculation of the planting medium with beneficial microbial consortium is an innovative approach to produce quality and healthy seedlings in horticulture. In the present study, inoculation of a selected microbial consortium consisting of Bacillus sonorensis + Funneliformis mosseae was added to the planting medium in pro trays to raise tomato and capsicum seedlings in a polyhouse. Considering growth parameters like germination rate, seedling length, seedling vigour index, stem girth, biovolume index, seedling dry weight; and microbial parameters like mycorrhizal root colonization and spore numbers, and population of B. sonorensis in the substrate, the ability of the consortium to improve seedling growth was assessed. The results revealed that the seedlings inoculated with the consortium showed significantly improved growth as compared to uninoculated seedlings. Based on the various growth and microbiological parameters studied, it was concluded that inoculation with consortium is beneficial for raising healthy, vigorously growing tomato and capsicum seedlings under polyhouse condition.