Effect of efficient isolates of Azospirillum & phosphorus solubilizing bacteria on growth parameters and yield of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.)

Finger millet is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. Biofertilizers play an important role in increasing nutrient availability to crop plants. In the present investigation, six native isolates of Azospirillum and three native isolates of Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) were isolated from rhizospheric soils of finger millet from different regions of Kolhapur District and the efficient isolate of Azospirillum & PSB (designated as Azospirillum-6 and PSB-2 resp.), were studied under field condition. The experimental results revealed that treatment T11 showed highest percent germination (96.14), plant height (121.69 cm), number of tillers (7.82), number of fingers per ear head (7.79), finger length (8.67 cm),1000 grain weight (3.30 g), grain yield (19.15 q ha-1), straw yield (26.84 q ha-1). In the same treatment, available N (233 kgha-1), P(28.1 kgha-1) & K (316 kgha-1) in soil after harvesting of finger millet also nutrient uptake N (48.6 kg ha-1), P (19.5 kg ha-1) and K (45.3 kg ha-1) from grain and straw after harvesting of finger millet recorded highest. The population dynamics of Azospirillum and PSB in treatment T11, (21.84 × 104 cfu/g of soil) & (3.10 × 106 cfu/g of soil) respectively, which was highest within that same treatment. It can be concluded that, dual inoculation of selected efficient isolates of Azospirillum and PSB in finger millet could increase the nitrogen fixation and phosphate solubilization and resulted in increase in yield of finger millet.