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Microbial inoculants as plant growth stimulating and soil nutrient availability enhancing options for cucumber under protected cultivation

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Abstract

Protected cultivation of vegetables is often hampered by declining nutrient availability in soil due to year-around farming, which in turn, leads to poor quality and yields, causing serious concern. Our study aimed towards evaluating the potential of novel biofilm formulations—Anabaena or Trichoderma as matrices with Azotobacter sp. as Anabaena–Azotobacter (An–Az) and Trichoderma-Azotobacter (Tr–Az) or together as Anabaena–Trichoderma (An–Tr), on the growth, physiological activities, yield, and changes in the profiles of soil microbial communities in two cultivars (cv. DAPC-6 and cv. Kian) of cucumber (Cucumis sativus). Photosynthetic pigments, evaluated as an index of growth showed two–threefold increase, while elicited activity of defense and antioxidant enzymes was stimulated; this facilitated significant improvement in the plants belonging to the inoculated treatments. Microbial biomass carbon and polysaccharides in soil enhanced by two–threefolds in treatments receiving microbial formulations. Available N in soil increased by 50–90% in An–Az and An–Tr biofilm inoculated treatments, while the availability of P and organic C content of soil improved by 40–60%, over control. PCR-DGGE profiles generated revealed signification modulation of cyanobacterial communities and cultivar-specific differences. Significant enhancement in leaf chlorophyll pigments, soil microbiological parameters and nutrient bio-availabilities along with positive correlation among the analysed parameters, and distinct profiles generated by PCR-DGGE analyses illustrated the promise of these novel inoculants for cucumber.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology (CPCT), ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, for providing the facilities to conduct the experiment. We gratefully acknowledge the Division of Agronomy and Division of Microbiology, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi for providing necessary facilities for undertaking this study.

Funding

The study was partly funded by the AMAAS Network Project on Microorganisms, granted by ICAR to RP and the ICAR Extra Mural Research Project, granted to BR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Microbiology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Kaur Simranjit, Amrita Kanchan, Radha Prasanna, Kunal Ranjan & Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan

  2. Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology (CPCT), ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Awani Kumar Singh

  3. Division of Agronomy, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Yashbir Singh Shivay

Authors
  1. Kaur Simranjit
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  2. Amrita Kanchan
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  3. Radha Prasanna
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  4. Kunal Ranjan
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  5. Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan
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  6. Awani Kumar Singh
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  7. Yashbir Singh Shivay
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Contributions

KS was responsible for undertaking the experimental analyses and writing the draft and its final formatting. AK helped in the biochemical and soil microbiological analyses. KR was responsible for the PCR-DGGE analyses. RP and BR developed the concept, coordinated the investigation and refined the manuscript. AKS was responsible for the experimental layout, its maintenance throughout the crop growth period and evaluation of yields. YSS helped in the analyses of soil nutrient parameters.

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Correspondence to Radha Prasanna.

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Simranjit, K., Kanchan, A., Prasanna, R. et al. Microbial inoculants as plant growth stimulating and soil nutrient availability enhancing options for cucumber under protected cultivation. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 35, 51 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-019-2623-z

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