Use of Rhizobacteria and Mycorrhizae Consortium in the Open Field as a Strategy for Improving Crop Nutrition, Productivity and Soil Fertility

Abstract

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known for their beneficial effects. In recent years, more attention has been paid to their use as biofertilizers to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers causing significant damage to the environment. To have high plant yields, biofertilizers may not be able to sustain plant demands and could be used in combination with chemical fertilizers. However, the application of biofertilizers in the field such as rhizobacteria and AMF are understudied and powerfully needed. In this context, this study aims to evaluate the effect of inoculation with rhizobacteria and AMF and their potential to stimulate two of the most economically important crops in Mediterranean semi-arid areas ( Vicia faba L. and Triticum durum L.). The effect of inoculation was studied in field experiment with six treatments: (i) the control without inoculation (C), (ii) PGPR alone (PG), (iii) rhizobia alone (R), (iv) the mixture of PGPR and rhizobia (PR), (v) AMF alone (M), and (vi) the mixture of PGPR, rhizobia and AMF (PRM). The inoculation with the consortium of PGPR-rhizobia-AMF (PRM) induced the greatest effect. This inoculation improved the growth parameters (dry weight of shoots and roots) of faba bean and wheat. An improvement of 130, 200, and 78% was observed in V. faba shoot and root dry weight, and the number of leaves, respectively. Similarly, shoot and root dry weight and number of leaves of T. durum were enhanced by 293, 258, and 87%, respectively. The inoculation improved the productivity of studied plants presented by the number and weight of bean pods (270 × 10 4 ha -1 and 30737.5 kg.ha -1 ) and wheat spikes (440 × 10 4 ha -1 and 10560 kg.ha -1 ). In addition, the mineral analyses showed that the inoculation with PGPR-rhizobia-mycorrhizae improved N, P, Ca, K, and Na shoots contents, as well as the contents of sugar and proteins. Finally, we revealed the positive impact of the tested biofertilizers and the interest of adoption of innovative practices improving crops productivity and soil fertility.

The Effects of a Microorganisms-Based Commercial Product on the Morphological, Biochemical and Yield of Tomato Plants under Two Different Water Regimes

“…Microorganisms such as arbuscular mychorrhizal fungi (AMF), plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) or fungi play a crucial role in stimulating the growth and development of plants via a myriad of direct or indirect mechanisms such as enhanced nutrient acquisition, phytohormones production, induction of systemic resistance in plants, or competing with harmful soil microorganisms. The use of microorganisms in agriculture as biofertilizers represents an eco-friendly alternative to the chemical products that are excessively used in order to obtain high yields, which is also a new approach to the practice of organic farming [5][6][7]. According to FiBL reports, farmers are more and more oriented to organic agriculture.…”

Control of Fungal Diseases and Increase in Yields of a Cultivated Jujube Fruit (Zizyphus jujuba Miller var. inermis Rehder) Orchard by Employing Lysobacter antibioticus HS124

“…PGPR also provides nutrients to the soil by fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere and solubilizing phosphorus in the soil [26,45]. Plants with increased absorption of nitrogen and phosphorus can promote photosynthesis and protein biosynthesis, thus increasing the size and yield of the fruit [46][47][48][49]. In cultivated orchard experiments, the size and yield of jujube fruits from trees inoculated with L. antibioticus HS124 were significantly increased (Table 1).…”

“…Well development in root system of trees are the most essential attribute for enhancing minerals and nutrient uptake [25,27,28,49]. Auxin produced by L. antibioticus HS124 inoculation might promote root development and stimulate the formation of absorbent root hairs and lateral roots [24,25,27,28,31,32].…”

“…can secrete organic acids and mineralize mineral elements such as K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and P from soil and enrich them in the soil [26,45,47,49], roots developed by auxin can promote the absorption of minerals and nutrient elements [24,25,27,32,48,50]. In addition, the photosynthesis of plants in the nitrogen-enhanced soils caused by nitrogen fixation from PGPR is enhanced, resulting in increased growth and mineral absorption in plants [26,45,[48][49][50][51][52]. According to Ipek et al [45] and Pirlak et al [51] apples and strawberries with PGPR such as Pseudomonas sp., Bacillus sp., Alcaligenes sp., Staphylococcus sp., and Agrobacterium sp.…”

Response of Barley to Bio Fertilization with Mycorrhiza and Azotobacter under Supplemental Irrigation Conditions at the North Western Coast of Egypt

“…These findings are in agreement with those obtained by Najafi et al, (2012) who found positive effects of microorganism symbiosis on barley root growth and water and nutrition absorption. In addition, Raklami et al, (2019) pointed out a positive impact of biofertilizers and interest of adoption of innovative practices improving crops productivity and soil fertility. Berhanu et al, (2013) reported that there was a positive effect of using Mycorrhizae and Azotobacter on wheat crop yield.…”