Synergistic Effect of PGPR and Nutrient Complex on Soybean Seed Germination and Initial Seedling Growth

Jelena Marinković (), Dragana Miljaković, Janko Červenski, Marjana Vasiljević, Vuk Đorđević, Gordana Tamindžić and Jegor Miladinović
Additional contact information
Jelena Marinković: Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Dragana Miljaković: Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Janko Červenski: Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Marjana Vasiljević: Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Vuk Đorđević: Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Gordana Tamindžić: Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Jegor Miladinović: Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: Biostimulants based on Bradyrhizobium japonicum are commonly used in soybean production. However, the effect of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in consortia with other plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and their integration with mineral nutrients on soybean seed quality has not been explored. The study aimed to examine the effects of five treatments on seed germination and initial seedling growth of two soybean cultivars (‘NS Apolo’, ‘NS Rubin’): control (untreated seeds); Br. japonicum (BJ), BJ and nutrient complex (NC), BJ, Azotobacter chroococcum (AC), Bacillus subtilis (BS), and NC; BJ, AC, Bacillus megaterium (BM), and NC. Seed treatments significantly enhanced germination energy, seedling vigor index, root length, fresh shoot weight, fresh root weight, dry shoot weight, and dry root weight of both cultivars, as well as final germination, shoot length, and shoot elongation rate of ‘NS Rubin’, as compared to the control. The highest effect on the investigated parameters was achieved by integrated use of PGPR and nutrients (BJ + BM + AC + NC), indicating that integration of PGPR with a targeted NC represents an innovative approach with practical implications for improving early soybean establishment and field performance.

Keywords: Azotobacter; Bacillus; Bradyrhizobium; Glycine max; micronutrients; seed treatment; seed quality and performance; PGPR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/19/2022/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/19/2022/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:19:p:2022-:d:1759257

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().