No abstract

The present study investigates the performance of recommended doses of chemical fertilizer (RDF) and locally isolated strains of Azotobacter, Azospirillum, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculated either solely or in combination with seedlings of Red Delicious and Lal Ambri cultivars. The RDF (T 7 ) treatment recorded significantly greater vegetative growth and leaf nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents over multi-inoculation of Azotobacter + Azospirillum + AMF (T 6 ) but root colonization and microbial counts decreased significantly. Inoculation of Azotobacter + Azospirillum + AMF (T 6 ) was superior over sole and dual inoculation with respect to vegetative growth and nutrient contents in leaves and soil but had significant greater counts of Azotobacter, Azospirillum, and Pseudomonas than RDF. Greatest root colonization (34.0 and 35.1%) was recorded in Azotobacter + Azospirillum + AMF (T 6 ) followed by AMF (T 4 ) treatment (29.3 and 32.0%) in Red Delicious and Lal Ambri seedlings, respectively. Overall, it can be inferred that multiinoculation of synergistically interacting bioinoculants may be helpful in the establishment of healthy organic apple orchards.