A field experiment on "Effect of microbial consortia on growth, nodulation, yield and nutrient uptake of soybean" was carried out during Kharif 2018-19 under the Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry.The experiment was laid out under r andomized block design (RBD) with 3 replications and 9 treatments comprising beneficial microorganisms of Actinomycetes, Arthrobacter and PGPR (P. fluorescens) in possible co mbinations applied as seed treatments and additionally P.fluorescens was applied as foliar application at 20, 40 and 60 DAS of the crop growth stages. The crop was supplemented with recommended dose of fertilizers 20:80:20 (N: P 2 O 5 : K 2 O kg ha -1 ) at basal application. Besides these, two types of control plots were maintined as fertilized uninoculated control (FUI) and unfertilized uninoculated control (UFUI). Results revealed that the significant improvement were noticed in plant growth attributes of nodulation (57 and 43.5%), over control (9.5 and 33.4 nodule plant -1 ) and its biomass, (71 and 43%),over the control (0.38and 1.12 g plant -1 ) plant height 47, 38, 32% over the control (16.3, 35 and 45.4 cm) and its biomass, (39, 57 and 65%), over the control 1.22, 3.41and 6.07 g plant -1 leaf chlorophyll content (32 and 31.0 %) over the control (2.65 and 2.92 mg g -1 leaf) all at 25, 45 and 65 DAS, nutrient contents (N, P and K seed and stover respectively) 58 and 122%, 65 and 101%, 70 and 86% over the control 98.5, 63.8, 5.2, 7.4, 24.9 and 44.4kg ha -1 , yields 44 and 61% over the control 1636 and 3345 kg ha -1 respectively (seed and stover) at harvest of the crop.

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The present study was carried out during kharif season 2019-20 at the Research Farm, Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (INDIA), to assess the effect of microbial inoculants on plant attributes and nutrients uptake by soybean in Vertisols. The experiment was laid out under randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. The 15 treatments comprised of different beneficial microbial consortia in possible combinations applied as seed treatments. The crop was supplemented with recommended dose of fertilizers 20 N : 80 P2O5 : 20 K2O kg ha-1. Besides these, two control plots were maintained as fertilized un-inoculated control (FUI) and unfertilized un-inoculated control (UFUI). The findings revealed that the significant improvement were noticed by the application of consortia NPK+EM+PGPR in plant growth attributes of nodulation at 25, 45 & 65 DAS (71, 70 & 59% respectively), over control (9.5, 33.4 & 34.7 nodule plant-1) and its biomass, (62, 69 & 74% respectively),over the control  (0.58, 1.16 & 0.99 g plant-1),  plant height at 25, 45 & 65DAS were increased 61, 40, 41% respectively, over the control (16.20, 34.90 and 44.30 cm) and plant biomass, (48, 62 & 53%), over the control 1.67, 4.73 and 6.1 g plant-1. Similarly, nutrient uptake (seed & stover) were also increased at 25, 45 and 65 stages of crop growth, with 36.6, 34.8 & 51.3% in seed and 66.7, 98.2 & 67.2% in straw respectively over the control (98.5, 63.8, 5.2, and 7.4, 24.9 and 44.4 kg ha-1 respectively). Thus, it may be concluded that the consortium of NPK + EM + PGPR was superior for sustainable crop production and soil health.

Pseudomonas (P) fluorescens promote plant growth by lowering the endogenous ethylene synthesis in the roots through their 1-aminocylopropane-1-carboxylate-deaminase (ACCD) activity. However, in the environs of the roots may decrease the efficiency of these P. fluorescens by stimulating ACC- oxidase activity resulting in greater ethylene production by the roots. So this study was designed to assess the performance of P. fluorescens containing ACC-deaminase for improving rhizobial population and yield of maize. The results revealed that the rhizobial population, irrespective of treatments, was maximum at 55 days after sowing followed by a reduction at harvest. The treatment T28+pH 7.2 (Temperature 28°C + pH 7.2) enhanced the maximum population of P. fluorescens in rhizoshpere at 35, 55 and 75 days after sowing (DAS) was with 1.69, 1.59 and 1.87 log fold increase over fertilized un-inoculated FUI [(3.7089 log cfu/g = 5.80 x103 cfu g-1 soil), (5.8673 log cfu/g = (7.53x105 cfu g-1 soil) and (4.676 log cfu/g 5.55x104 cfu g-1 soil)]. Similar treatment T28+pH 7.2 recorded maximum number of cob plant-1, cob length-1, number of grains line-1 and number of grains cob-1 at harvest were with T28+pH 7.2 by 30.6, 32.1, 29.7 and 37.7% over the control FUI (2.1, 15.2 cm, 35.0 and 503), respectively. While the treatment T31+pH 7.2 (Temperature 31°C + pH 7.2) enhanced the cob girth and maximum grains line cob-1 at harvest were with 26.0 and 31.3% response over FUI (13.3 cm cob-1 and 13.9), respectively. The treatment T28+pH 7.2 significantly increased the seed and stover yields of maize by 24.9 and 31.6% over the control (2914 and 7133 kg ha-1), respectively.

A field and lab experiment entitled “Kinetics of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic -deaminase (ACCD) activity of Pseudomonas fluorescens, its population growth under different fermentation conditions and performance of the selected isolates on maize” was conducted at Laboratory of Microbes Research & Production Centre (MRPC) and the Research Farm, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh during 2018-19. The results revealed that the available nitrogen (N) content in soil at knee height, tasseling and silking stage, the treatment combination Temperature 28oC and pH 7.2 (T28+pH 7.2) isolates significantly increase the N content in soil with response of 21.5,17.3 and 14.4% over FUI (209, 196 and 166 kg N ha-1), respectively. Similarly, the isolates of T28+pH 7.2 significantly increase the available phosphorus (P) content at knee height, tasseling and silking stage in soil with response of 31.7, 23.2 and 26.4% over FUI (18.0,16.4 and 14.4 kg P ha-1). The isolates of T28+pH 7.2 significantly increase the available potassium (K) content in soil at knee height, tasseling and silking stage with response of 14.4, 10.1 and 10.4% over FUI (298, 278 and 264 kg K ha-1).