Studies on the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on growth, physiological parameters, yield and fruit quality of strawberry cv. chandler

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effective use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (Bacillus licheniformis CKA 1, Bacillus subtilis CB 8 A, Bacillus sp. RG1, Bacillus sp. S1 and Bacillus sp S2) on growth, yield and fruit quality of strawberry cv. Chandler at Model Farm of Directorate of Research, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India during 2012-2013. It was observed that the root+ foliar application of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria gave the best results with respect to growth, yield and fruit quality as compared to other application methods. The maximum plant height and spread were recorded in T3 whereas the maximum leaf area, chlorophyll content, rate of photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate were observed in T15. The number of crowns were maximum in T9 followed by T15, while the number of runners were significantly more in T12 showing significant improvement over control. The highest number of fruits and yield per plant were highest in T15, respectively. The maximum fruit weight and length were recorded from T15 while fruit diameter was maximum T3. The maximum fruit TSS in T13, TSS: acid ratio in T4, acidity in control over other treatments. Total sugars in T10, Reducing Sugars were highest in T7 the as compared to other treatments. The ascorbic acid content was highest in T16 while anthocyanin content was maximum in T1 as compared to other treatments.