Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

PLANT GROWTH AND DRY MATTER PRODUCTION IN POMEGRANATE AS INFLUENCED BY INOCULATION WITH DIFFERENT FLUORESCENT PSEUDOMONADS

D.V. Indi, A. R. Alagawadi, P.U. Krishnaraj and S.V. Nalawade

Abstract

Fifteen isolates with multiple beneficial functional properties out of a total of 133 fluorescent pseudomonad isolates from different forest rhizospheres of Western Ghats of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka were selected based on the in-vitro studies. They were tested on pomegranate (cv. Bhagwa) under pot culture conditions along with 3 reference strains {Pseudomonas fluorescens (NCIM-2099), P. aeruginosa (NCIM-2036) and P. aureofaciens (NCIM-2026)} during February to August, 2008 to study their effect on growth, dry matter production and N and P uptake. The isolate MDF 449 (1) recorded the earliest sprouting of the air layers (8 days) and the highest plant height (86.0 cm), number of leaves (562 plant-1), number of branches (6.0 plant-1), root length (32.5 cm), dry weight of shoot (53.14 g plant-1), root (22.86 g plant-1) and total dry weight (76.00 g plant-1), total chlorophyll in leaves (2.24 mg g-1 fresh weight) and the uptake of N (1059 mg plant-1) and P (284 mg plant-1) by plants as a result of significant improvement in their population in pomegranate rhizosphere (9.2 x 103 g-1 soil). The reference strains viz., P. fluorescens and P. aeruginosa as well as the isolates DF 75 and SEF 233 (1) were at par with MDF 449 (1) in many of the parameters studied indicating their ability to promote growth of pomegranate plants.