Rhizobacterial inoculation in combination with mineral fertilizer improves maize growth and yield in poor ferruginous soil in center of Benin

Abstract

The use of biotechnological approaches to increase soil fertility and productivity allows to obtain sustainable agriculture with lesser use of chemical fertilizers. The present study aimed to determine whether the inoculation of Bacillus panthothenicus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas syringae, or Serratia marcescens combined with reduced doses of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) fertilizer can improve the growth and yield of maize on poor ferruginous soils under field conditions in central Benin. For this purpose, maize seeds of the EVDT 97 STR C1 variety were inoculated with 10 ml suspension of five plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains, and the plots were fertilized at seeding with the recommended doses (0, 25, 50, 100%) of 200 kg/ha of NPK and 100 kg of urea for corn cultivation. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design with 3 replicates. The results showed that except for P. syringae , which induced the highest fresh aerial biomass (94.51%) and dry aerial biomass (63.63%), all other parameters were positively improved with inoculation associated with reduced doses of NPK + urea. The best height, leaf area, fresh underground biomass, and grain yield were recorded in response to the application of P. syringae + 50% NPK + urea, with an increase of 26.82, 32.23, 107.57, and 30.64%, respectively, compared to those of the control. The inoculation of seeds with P. syringae + 50% NPK + urea can be considered to be an environmentally sustainable strategy for maize cultivation.

Bioformulations based on plant growth promoting rhizobacteria for sustainable agriculture: Biofertilizer or Biostimulant?

“…According to a study by Schütz et al (2018), inoculation with biofertilisers increased average crop yields by 16.2% compared to controls. Similarly, Amogou et al (2021) obtained increases in height, leaf area, fresh biomass and yield of maize of 27.19, 32.23, 47.89 and 46.98% respectively after the use of microbial biofertilisers combined with 25% of the recommended dose of NPK-Urea in Benin.…”

Interactive Effects of Plant Growth-Promoting Microbes and Nanoparticles on the Physiology, Growth, and Yield of Crops

“…In the last decade, great efforts have been made to substitute chemical fertilizers with environmentally friendly biostimulants (Kamilova et al, 2015;Liu et al, 2018;Thomas and Singh, 2019;Amogou et al, 2021). The response to microbial biostimulants inoculation on different crops has been widely evaluated, thus showing significant increase in the growth and yields of agricultural crops (Babalola et al, 2020;Agueǵuéet al, 2021b;Adoko et al, 2021a).…”

Effect of the application or coating of PGPR-based biostimulant on the growth, yield and nutritional status of maize in Benin

“…In the last decade, great efforts have been made to substitute chemical fertilizers with environmentally friendly biostimulants ( Kamilova et al., 2015 ; Liu et al., 2018 ; Thomas and Singh, 2019 ; Amogou et al., 2021 ). The response to microbial biostimulants inoculation on different crops has been widely evaluated, thus showing significant increase in the growth and yields of agricultural crops ( Babalola et al., 2020 ; Aguégué et al., 2021b ; Adoko et al., 2021a ).…”