Improving the physio-chemical properties of soil by application of Pseudomonas fluorescens

Abstract

The present work was aimed to evaluate the efficiency of Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma viridae and Trichoderma harzianum as plant growth promoting and biocontrol agents to enhance the physical and chemical properties of the sandy clay loam soil under the transplanted rice field. ­Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma viridae and Trichoderma harzianum enhanced growth through direct and indirect mechanisms by production of phytohormones, siderophores, and HCN, Nitrogen fixation and Phosphate solubilisation. The vermicompost based formulation was used for soil and seedling treatments.­The application of vermi-based formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens in combination with Trichoderma viridae and Trichoderma harzianum at the two different dosages (50 and 500 kg per ha) showed properties like pH, OC, NPK Sulphur and micronutrients content were significantly influenced compared to control. Thus Pseudomonas fluorescens has great potential to improve the soil fertility due to higher accumulation of nutrients and besides contributing to promotion of plants growth.