Abstract
Biofertilizers have long been assessed as powerful technology to obtain sustainable enhanced crop production. The present investigation revealed the positive effects of inoculation of Azotobacter biofertilizer on growth and yield parameters in sugarcane var. CoJ 83 under field conditions. Application of Azotobacter biofertilizer at both the nitrogen levels (N75% Rec and N100% Rec levels) resulted in significant increase in the cane yield over the respective controls. Maximum increase in cane yield was recorded by Azotobacter inoculation at recommended dose of nitrogen. Inoculation with Azotobacter at N75% Rec level of N fertilizer resulted in cane yield that was observed to be statistically at par with N100% Rec level. The application of this biofertilizer would not only be beneficial keeping in view the phenomenon of enhanced productivity using environmentally benign technology, but also would be useful to obtain better yield with improvement of the soil microbial ecology/soil food web.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, J.M., and M.K. Boardman. 1964. Studies on greening of dark brown bean plants II. Development of photochemical activity. Australian Journal of Biolgical Sciences 17: 93–101.
Chandrasekar, B.R., G. Ambrose, and N. Jayabalan. 2005. Influence of biofertilizers and nitrogen source level on the growth and yield of Echinochloa frumentacea (Roxb.) Link. Journal of Agriculture Technology 1(2): 223–234.
Chen James, C.P. 1985. Cane sugar handbook, 11th ed, 788–790. New York: Willey Interscience Publication.
Hari, K., and T.R. Srinivasan. 2005. Response of sugarcane varieties to application of nitrogen fixing bacteria under different nitrogen levels. Sugar Tech 7(2&3): 28–31.
Kader, M.A., M.H. Mian, and M.S. Hoque. 2002. Effects of Azotobacter inoculant on the yield and nitrogen uptake by wheat. Online Journal of Biological Sciences 2(4): 259–261.
Kaur, K., S. Goyal, and K.K. Kapoor. 2008. Impact of organic fertilizers with and without chemical fertilizers on soil properties and the establishment of nitrogen fixing in the rhizosphere. Microbes and Environment 23(4): 313–316.
Nagaraju, M.S., C. Shankariah, and U. Ravindra. 2000. Effect of integrated use of fertilizers with sulphitation pressmud and Azotobacter on sugarcane growth and yield. Cooperative Sugar 3(5): 391–395.
Sebastian, S.P., C. Udayasoorian, R.M. Jayabalakrishnan, and E. Parameswari. 2009. Performance of sugarcane varieties under organic amendments with poor quality irrigation water. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences 3(3): 1674–1684.
Shaheen, A.M., A.R. Fatma, M.S. Omiama, and A.A. Ghoname. 2007. The integrated use of bio-inoculants and chemical nitrogen fertilizer on growth, yield and nutritive value of two okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) cultivars. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences 1(3): 307–312.
Shankaraiah, C., and K.N. Kalyanamurthy. 2005. Effect of enriched pressmud cake on growth, yield and quality of sugarcane. Sugar Tech 7(2&3): 1–4.
Subbiah, B.V., and G.L. Ashija. 1956. A rapid procedure for the estimation of available nitrogen in soils. Current Science 25: 259–266.
Walkley, A., and C.A. Black. 1934. An examination of the digestion method for determining soil organic matter and proposed modifications of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Science 37: 29–38.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gosal, S.K., Kalia, A., Uppal, S.K. et al. Assessing the Benefits of Azotobacter Bacterization in Sugarcane: A Field Appraisal. Sugar Tech 14, 61–67 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-011-0131-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-011-0131-z