Co-inoculation of Bradyrhizobium and Phosphate Solubilizing Microbes on Growth Promotion of Groundnut Under Rain-fed Conditions

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) can improve plant development and protect plants from diseases and abiotic stresses. Plant-bacterial interactions in the rhizosphere are important factors in soil fertility and plant health. Symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria include the cyanobacteria of the genera Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Azorhizobium, Allorhizobium, Sinorhizobium and Mesorhizobium. Therefore, to investigate the effect of co-inoculation of Bradyrhizobium and phosphate solubilizing microbes (PSM) on groundnut crop under field conditions using normal soil, divided into eight different study groups i.e., control (T1), Bradyrhizobium isolate -1 (T2), Bradyrhizobium isolate -2 (T3), Bradyrhizobium isolate -3(T4), Phosphate solubilizing microbe (PSM) (T5), T2 + PSM (T6), T3 + PSM (T7), T4 + PSM (T8). The results showed maximum groundnut pod yield (2428 kg ha-1) was obtained in treatment where inoculation with bacterial isolate-2 applied as compared to control. In case of plant height and shoot dry biomass, maximum response was observed in T7 (59.4 cm, 4733 kg ha-1) as compared to control i.e., 40.5 cm, 3156.7 kg ha-1 respectively. It was concluded that this technique might be useful and applicable to cut down the high input cost of phosphate fertilizers for the production of other crops also