Shweta Gupta¹ , Rajesh Kaushal² , Gaurav Sood¹ , Ruchi Sharma¹ , Shruti Kirti¹

1 Department of Basic Science, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan (Himachal Pradesh) 173230- India
2 Department of Soil Science and Water Management, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan (Himachal Pradesh) 173230- India
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Soil Biology, 2016, Vol. 7, No. 3   doi: 10.5376/msb.2016.07.0003
Received: 22 Feb., 2016    Accepted: 20 Mar., 2016    Published: 18 Apr., 2016

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Shweta Gupta, Rajesh Kaushal, Gaurav Sood, Ruchi Sharma, and Shruti Kirti, 2016, Screening of Indigenous Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria Associated with Capsicum annuum L. in High Hills Temperate Wet Conditions of Himachal Pradesh (India), Molecular Soil Biology, 7(3): 1-8

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria from the rhizospheric soil and roots of capsicum plants in agro-climatic zone-III (High Hills Temperate Wet) of Himachal Pradesh were isolated. Out of 40 isolates, only two isolates (JHA₆ and ROH₁₄) possessing maximum of PGP traits were evaluated for their effect on production of capsicum. Seeds were treated with selected isolates and 100%, 80%, 60% recommended doses (RD) of chemical fertilizers (N and P), while non-inoculated treatment with 100% RD of NPK was control. Pot experiment was conducted under net house conditions, using completely randomized design, with three replications. Maximum shoot length (79.0 cm) and biomass (39.75 g) as well as root length (32.9 cm) and biomass (2.63 g), were recorded under combined application of 100% RD of chemical fertilizers with JHA6 isolate. Fruit yield was increased by 9.17% over control which was, statistically on a par with treatment with ROH14 isolate and 100% RD of NPK. The application of 80% RD of N and P plus either of the tested PGPR isolates was statistically on a par with control clearly saving about 20% of chemical fertilizers.

Capsicum; PGPR inoculation; Siderophore; P-solubilisation; HCN; Yield; Nutrient uptake