Abstract
The harmful effect of salinity stress on crops needs to be mitigated. Therefore, the application of microbial inoculum in combination with nanomaterials and methyl salicylate was investigated. Initially, different seeds were exposed to salinity levels treated with variable microbial treatments using different modes of applications. The microbial treatments included application of cyanobacterial strain Cyanothece sp. and the rhizobacterium Enterobacter cloacae, alone or in combination with one another, and a final treatment using combined microbial inoculum supplied with methyl salicylate. Later, different nanomaterials were used, namely, graphene, graphene oxide, and carbon nanotubes in combination with biofertilizers on the highest salinity level. The nanomaterial with microbial treatment and methyl salicylate were applied partly as a mixture in soil and partly as capsules. Results showed that salinity stress had a drastic inhibitory effect on growth parameters, especially at −5 MPa level. Nonetheless, the microbial treatments significantly alleviated the deleterious effect of salinity stress, especially when combined with methyl salicylate. When the nanomaterials were added to biofertilizers at highest salinity level, the inhibitory effect of salinity was mostly alleviated. Smart use of synergistic biofertilizers alongside the right nanomaterial, both encapsulated and in soil, would allow for mitigation and alleviation of inhibitory effect of salinity.
Highlights
One of the major challenges of cultivating arid and semi-arid soils is salinity
With regard to the first mode of application through irrigation, it was noticed that the combined microbial treatment of bacterial and cyanobacteria strains with Methyl salicylate (MeSA) resulted in the highest growth parameters under all levels of salinity except for dry weight in most of the treatments, both in barley and broad beans
With regard to the presoaking treatment for 12 h, there was an inhibition of germination in most of the treatments, with only the combined microbial treatment and MeSA giving noticeable growth at 0 and −0.1 MPa
Summary
One of the major challenges of cultivating arid and semi-arid soils is salinity. Salinity can affect all the developmental stages of plant growth. Salinity can induce water stress in germinating seeds through decreasing water intake as a result of the osmotic effect. Thakur and Sharma [2] reported that the decrease in germination percentage may be due to induction of a state of dormancy in seeds under salinity stress. With regard to biofertilizers, [5] reported their advantages in being beneficial in increasing plant growth and crop yield through increased nutrient availability and soil fertility. They reduce pollution through cutting down on the use of chemical fertilizers. They protect plants against many pathogens [6]
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