Exploring Potential Soil Bacteria for Sustainable Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) Production

Rizwan Ali Sheirdil, Rifat Hayat, Xiao-Xia Zhang, Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, Safdar Ali, Mukhtar Ahmed, Jabar Zaman Khan Khattak and Shakeel Ahmad
Additional contact information
Rizwan Ali Sheirdil: Department of Soil Science and Soil Water Conservation, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Rifat Hayat: Department of Soil Science and Soil Water Conservation, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Xiao-Xia Zhang: ACCC (Agricultural Culture Collection of China), Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi: Department of Horticulture, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Safdar Ali: Department of Soil Science and Soil Water Conservation, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Mukhtar Ahmed: Department of Agronomy, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Jabar Zaman Khan Khattak: Department of Biological Sciences, Islamic International University Islamabad, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: The application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) could allow growers to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and increase the sustainability of crop production. Wheat is the main staple food crop of Pakistan, and few studies have reported on the impact of PGPR on wheat crops. To determine if PGPR can maintain wheat productivity with reduced fertilizer applications, we isolated bacteria from the rhizosphere of wheat grown in sandy loam. We selected 10 strains based on in vitro assays for traits associated with PGPR: ACC deaminase activity, siderophore productivity, P-solubilization, and productivity of indole acetic acid (IAA). Furthermore, the strains were tested in three experiments (using a growth-chamber, pots with an experimental area of 0.05 m 2 , and a field). Strains that possessed the four traits associated with PGPR increased the shoot length, root length, and fresh and dry weight of plants in the growth chamber study. Similarly, under the pot trial, maximum crop traits were observed under the consortium + half dose, while under field conditions maximum crop parameters were detected in the case of consortium 1 and consortium 2 along with half the recommended dose of fertilizer. This confirms that this consortium could provide growers with a sustainable approach to reduce synthetic fertilizer usage in wheat production.

Keywords: inoculation; PGPR; soil bacteria; wheat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3361/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3361/ (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:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3361-:d:240681

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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