Evaluation of four microbial bio-effectors for growth promotion and nutrient acquisition in bambara nut Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc. (Fabales: Fabaceae) without mineral fertilization

Abstract

This study seek to evaluate the potential of four BEs (Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Rhizobium and Arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF)) without complementary inorganic fertilizer in promoting plant growth and nutrient uptake in contrasting soil types. Field studies set up in completely randomized design (CRD) were conducted in Southwestern Nigeria using bambara groundnut Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc. (Fabales: Fabaceae) as test crop sown on a sandy loam and clay loam alfisol. Result indicates that performance of inoculated BEs in improving bambara nut growth and nutrient uptake did not differ according to soil types. Promising results were obtained with all BEs with Rhizobium, AMF and Azospirillum showing exceptional performance respectively across all measured parameters. These BEs are recommended for adoption by local farmers in the study area to optimize bambara nut performance with the aim of reducing dependence on inorganic fertilizers and improving fertilizer use efficiency.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria for orphan legume production: Focus on yield and disease resistance in Bambara groundnut

“…Their study further proved that rhizobacteria on a plant species can improve the growth and yield of another plant species. A previous study showed that PGPR improved nutrient acquisition in BGN (Oyewole et al, 2018). Many studies have shown the effect of PGPR on plant growth and nutrient composition (Bakhshandeh et al, 2020;Castaldi et al, 2021;Guo et al, 2021;Kushwaha et al, 2021;Laranjeira et al, 2021); we can therefore postulate that PGPR will improve the nutrient composition and yield of BGN.…”