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Evaluation of Azotobacter and Azospirillum as Biofertilizers in Aquaculture

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Summary

A preliminary comparative evaluation of the two commonly encountered free-living nitrogen fixers in the aquatic system, Azotobacter and Azospirillum was carried out in the laboratory for use as biofertilizers in aquaculture considering the importance of eco-friendly and econo-friendly productivity optimization of freshwater aquaculture. The ammonium–nitrogen levels in water media in Azotobacter treatment varied in the range 2.59–34.34 μg-N/l and was found to be significantly different from that of Azospirillum treatment (p < 0.05). The viable population of the respective nitrogen fixers as colony forming units (c.f.u.) in water media in charcoal-immobilized Azotobacter treatment ranged from 0.39 to 2.48 × 103 c.f.u./ml and were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the counterparts. The nitrogenase activity in the same treatment similarly remained higher, at 8.3–12.15 nmol of ethylene/ml water/h followed by the alginate-immobilized Azotobacter treatment which was at 7.2–11.40 nmol of ethylene/ml water/h compared to 5.8–7.8 and 4.65–4.83 in the respective Azospirillum-treated counterparts. Hence, better performance of Azotobacter sp. over Azospirillum sp., and of charcoal immobilization over alginate immobilization were observed.

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Abbreviations

ARA:

acetylene reduction activity

BOD:

biochemical oxygen demand

DO:

dissolved oxygen

NPP:

net primary productivity

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, 751 002, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India

    Prangya Paramita Tripathy & S. Ayyappan

  2. Dairy Microbiology Division, National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), 132 001, Karnal, Haryana, India

    Prangya Paramita Tripathy

  3. Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), 400 061, Versova, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    S. Ayyappan

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  1. Prangya Paramita Tripathy
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  2. S. Ayyappan
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Correspondence to Prangya Paramita Tripathy.

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Tripathy, P.P., Ayyappan, S. Evaluation of Azotobacter and Azospirillum as Biofertilizers in Aquaculture . World J Microbiol Biotechnol 21, 1339–1343 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-005-3787-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-005-3787-2

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