Evaluating the growth and productivity of Okra and tomato plants cultivated in soil amended with microbial consortiabio-fertilizer

Microbial consortia as an integral component of biofertilizer is an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical fertilizers that enhances crop performance, pest control and soil revitalization. This study is designed to determine the biofertilizer potential of microbial cells on okra and tomato plants growth and productivity. Soil samples were collected around University of Port Harcourt and standard microbiological methods were used to isolate, identify and mass produce the microorganisms. The liquid biofertilizer containing microbial cells were applied on the soil planted with okra and tomato seeds to determine the plant growth index and crop yield and the microbial consortia were Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus licheniformis, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Azotobacter chroococcum. The result obtained from this study after 12 weeks of planting reveals that the number of leaves of okra and tomato treatment plants ranges from 17.00±1.00 to 26.00±0.00 and 88.00±4.58 to 121.67±7.51 respectively; shoot height (cm) were 20.40±2.42 to 45.10±1.40 and 48.33±3.79 to 97.67±0.58 respectively. The number of fruits for okra and tomato plants were 4.67±1.16 to 16.67±2.08 and 7.33±2.52 to 23.67±2.52; the fruits weight (g) were 6.30±3.58 to 31.00±4.58 and 1.33±0.06 to 78.03±12.23 respectively. It was also observed that the control had the lowest germination rate and the harvested fruits of okra and tomato treated with biofertilizer spanned up to 4 weeks before spoilage. This study demonstrates that the microbial cells have the biofertilizer potential in enhancing plant growth and crop yield which could be an affordable and alternate source of chemical fertilizer.