Plant Growth-Promoting Bacterial Consoprtia as a Strategy Towards Crop Growth and Fitness of Little Millet (Panicum sumatranse L.)

Abstract

Little millet, a minor cereal cultivated in semi-arid regions of India, is renowned for its nutraceutical properties. The endophytic plant growth-promoting bacterial (PGPB) communities help crop plants increase growth and health, endure stress tolerance, and enhance nutrient availability. Seed biotiztion with these endophytic PGPBs can facilitate the host plant to develop a defense against pathogens and challenging environments. Thus the present study aimed to biotize the little millet seeds (var. ATL1) with PGPBs, viz., Bacillus albus LRS2, Alcaligenes faecalis LSB6, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LAS10 and Bacillus velezensis LLB10 and to evaluate their efficiency by developing as a consortia of these isolates for improved plant growth and development. The seeds were biotized with all the strains individually and as consortia to evaluate their plant growth attributes in vitro and in vivo. The results showed significant differences in vegetative growth parameters and yield attributes compared with the control over consortia biotized seeds. During the panicle initiation stage (27 DAS), the shoot length (59.2, cm), root length (13.9 cm), total plant biomass (1.46 g), number of productive tillers plant-1 (5), panicle length (13.2 cm) and 1000 grain weight (5.12 g), grain yield plant-1 (28.45 g), straw yield (36.21 g) registered more in consortia biotized plants compared to non-biotized plant maintained as control. Thus, the present study confirmed that the inoculation of little millet seeds with the Consortia of indigenous strains could promote plant growth and productivity. Further, the Vol 110|10-12 inoculant can be recommended as a novel bio-inoculant for enhancing crop health and sustainable production in little millet.