Potential Assessment of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria on Growth, Yield, Nutrient Use Efficiency and Grain Nutrient Content of Finger Millet

Abstract

Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] is a crop with high nutraceutical properties with potential health benefits in comparison to other commonly consumed cereals. Uttarakhand is a leading state in production of finger millet in Himalayan region, but poor production is not able to offer economic revenue to the farmers. Use of inorganic fertilizer to increase production is not safe for environment as well as for human beings. So the use of biofertilizer is one of the eco-friendly approaches to increase productivity. Total 9 accessions and 10 bacterial strains were screened. Three bacterial strains (BS-58, BS-27, and Y-19) were finally selected to assess their effects on plant growth, antoxidant enzyme activity, nutrient use efficiency, yield and grain nutrient content of finger millet under field experiment. Among different treatments, T-1(BS-27) exhibited a maximum plant height (9.96%) followed by T-5 (BS-58+Y-19; 7.39 %) and T-2 (BS-58) exhibited a maximum increase in seed yield (35.99%) closely followed by T-5 (BS-58+Y-19; 34.48%). A significant increase (250.41%, 45.16% and 45.16%) in soil nutrients (NPK) and their uptake (2.19%, 0.22% and 0.58%) was recorded in different treatments. Protein, Ca and Fe content of the grain was also increased by 55.49 %, 23.40% and 19.35% respectively over control. These bacterial strains were able to increase nutrient use efficiency of the finger millet crop. The study revealed that the biopriming of finger millet seeds with PGPB alone and in combination found as potential agents to enhance the physiological traits of finger millet for obtaining higher yield and nutrient quality