Application of saline tolerant bacteria and soil ameliorants improved growth, yield and nutrient uptake of tomato in saline land

Abstract

Salinity is one of the problems in agricultural sector widespread in almost all countries in the world, which could reduce crops yield. This research was carried out to study the effect of frequency application of consortium saline-tolerant bacteria isolates with different soil ameliorants on growth and yield of tomato grown saline lands. Research was conducted using split plot design with three replications. Soil ameliorants (Cow manure and gypsum) were the main plot while sub-plots were frequency applications of consortium bacterial isolates (without bacterial, once, twice, three and four times). In this study, bacteria consortium was SN13 (Streptomyces sp.) + SN22 (Bacillus sp.) and SN23 (Corynebacterium sp.) which isolated from the soil of saline-prone regions of Lamongan, in coastal East Java Indonesia. Results showed that gypsum and cow manure as soil ameliorant did not give significant effect on yield and nutrient uptake of tomato while application of saline-tolerant bacteria was able to improve yield and nutrient uptake of tomato. However, the four times application of saline-tolerant bacteria significantly improved plant height (23.36 %), leaves area (96,49 %), total chlorophyll content (11.86 %), dry weight of plant (103.59 %), fresh weight of fruit (85.51 %), N uptake (135.22 %), P uptake (132.99 %), K uptake (141.68 %) and declined Na uptake (16.28 %), compared to without bacteria application. In conclusion, four times application of saline-tolerant bacteria can alleviate salinity stress of tomato plants in saline lands