Abstract
Nitrogen (N) is a macronutrient desired by crop plants in large quantities. However, hiking fertilizer prices need alternative N sources for reducing its requirements through appropriate management practices. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are well-known for their role in lowering N requirements of crop plants. This study assessed the impact of PGPR inoculation on growth, allometry and biochemical traits of chili under different N doses. Two PGPR, i.e., Azospirillum ‘Er-20’ (nitrogen fixing) and Agrobacterium ‘Ca-18’ (phosphorous solubilizing) were used for inoculation, while control treatment had no PGPR inoculation. Six N doses, i.e., 100, 80, 75, 70, 60 and 50% of the N required by chili were included in the study. Data relating to growth traits, biochemical attributes and yield related traits were recorded. Interaction among N doses and PGPR inoculation significantly altered all growth traits, biochemical attributes and yield related traits. The highest values of the recorded traits were observed for 100% N with and without PGPR inoculation and 75% N with PGPR inoculation. The lowest values of the recorded traits were noted for 50% N without PGPR inoculation. The PGPR inoculation improved the measured traits compared to the traits recorded noted in same N dose without PGPR inoculation. Results revealed that PGPR had the potential to lower 25% N requirement for chili. Therefore, it is recommended that PGPR must be used in chili cultivation to lower N requirements.
Highlights
Nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) are the important mineral nutrients for the optimum growth and production of plants in commercial agricultural systems [1]
Overall decreasing N availability reduced all measured growth traits under both Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) inoculation and no inoculation. This decrease was more severe in no PGPR inoculation compared with PGPR inoculation (Table 2)
Overall decreasing N availability reduced all measured reproductive and yield-related traits under both PGPR inoculation and no inoculation. This decrease was more severe in no PGPR inoculation compared with PGPR inoculation (Table 4)
Summary
This study was conducted in polythene tunnels at Department of Horticulture, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan (30.260032 ̊N, 71.515477 ̊E). Chili seedlings were procured from Jafar group, Multan, Pakistan (30.12908 ̊N, 71.37459 ̊E). Two PGPR strains, i.e., Azospirillum Er-20 (N-fixing) and Agrobacterium Ca-18 (P-solubilizing) were obtained from National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan (31.39819 ̊N, 73.02575 ̊E). The bacterial strains were grown in 1 L LB broth medium at 28 ̊C for 48 hours to get the optimum growth (CFU 109 mL-1). Bacterial cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4000 × g for 20 min at 4 ̊C and suspended in 1 L of saline solution (w/v 0.89% NaCl)
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