Synergistic effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi and Azotobacter chroococcum on the vegetative growth and herbage yield of Cymbopogon citratus (DC.)
Ambrish Kumar, Deeksha Pathak, Shalini Jadon, Shivam Parmar and Saroj Singh Chahar*
Department of Botany, R.B.S. College, Agra - 282002 {India} Affiliation with Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra - 282004 {India} *Corresponding author: Saroj Singh Chahar, Associate Professor, Department of Botany, R.B.S. College, Agra, {India} E-Mail: - ambrish.rbs@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The findings have shown that soil microorganisms have a major impact on soil fertility and plant growth. Symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi {AM fungi} play a vital role in soil microbial flora. The AM fungi have a mutualistic connection with the host plant, enhancing its development and nutrient intake. Azotobacter chroococcum, a bacterium that fixes nitrogen and mobilizes phosphate, and mycorrhizal fungi can boost plant nutrition and hence act as biofertilizers in my test crops. An experiment was carried out to determine the growth promotion of Cymbopogon citratus DC. after single and dual inoculation with AM fungi and Azotobacter chroococcum. The effects on the length and width of leaves, fresh shoot weight, dry shoot weight, and number of tillers at the 180th day was investigated. On the 180th day, inoculated plants with Azotobacter chroococcum and AM fungi produced more favorable results than plants fertilized with chemical fertilizers N, P and K. During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, however, the combination treatments of N and P with bio-fertilizers led to a significant increase in plant height, width of leaves, fresh and dry shoot weight, and number of tillers, when compared to the control. The findings showed that inoculating A. chroococcum and AM fungi together improved the vegetative growth of lemongrass. Therefore, above findings revealed that nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and mineralization were beneficial to plant growth and development.