Azospirillum
bioinoculant is well known for its high nitrogen-fixing and plant growth-promoting characters. Carrier-based bioinoculants generally suffer from shorter shelf-life, poor quality, high contamination and low field performance. As an alternative, the liquid and cyst formulations of
Azospirillum
inoculants can play a significant role. Liquid and cyst formulations of
Azospirillum
were developed by adding amendments to the NFb broth and to MSM medium, respectively, which have longer shelf-life and tolerance to adverse conditions such as temperature and desiccation. The dosage of liquid and cyst-based formulations of
Azospirillum
for various inoculation methods such as seed treatment, seedling root dipping and soil application was standardized and their survival was studied. Inoculum levels of 10 ml/kg seeds, 150 ml/quantity of seedlings required for 1 ha and 300 ml/ha were found to be the optimum doses for seed treatment, seedling root dipping and soil application methods, respectively. The liquid and cyst formulations of
Azospirillum
have exhibited better adherence and survival on seeds, seedling roots and in the rhizosphere than the carrier-based form. These results indicated that there is substantial room to improve the liquid and cyst formulations of
Azospirillum
inoculant to obtain the desired benefits.