Maintenance of high bacterial population in the rhizosphere improves the efficiency of these organisms. This high bacterial
population can be maintained by the application of enriched compost which supports their growth and activities. Thus
integrated use of
Rhizobium, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) containing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate
deaminase (ACC-deaminase) and P-enriched compost (PEC) could be highly effective for promoting growth, nodulation,
and yield of lentil (
Lens
culinaris
Medik.). A field study was conducted to evaluate the potential of
Rhizobium, PGPR
containing ACC-deaminase and PEC for promoting growth of lentil. For this study, the soil type was sandy clay loam soil
having pH 7.6; EC (electrical conductivity) 2.8 dS m
-1; organic matter (OM) 0.59%; total N 0.032%; available P 7.9 mg
kg
-1, and extractable K 129 mg kg
-1. Treatments were replicated thrice, using randomized complete block (RCB) design.
Results showed that the integrated use of
Rhizobium leguminosarum
with
Pseudomonas spp. containing ACC-deaminase along with
PEC was highly effective and caused up to 73.5, 73.9, 74.4, 67.5, 73.3, 65.8, 40.5, and 52.5% increase in fresh biomass,
grain yield, straw yield, pods plant
-1, nodule plant
-1, nodule dry weight plant
-1, 1000-grain weight, and N content in grain
of lentil, respectively, as compared to respective control. It is concluded that integrated use of
R. leguminosarum with
Pseudomonas spp. having trait ACC-deaminase plus PEC would be an effective approach for better nodulation which
consequently improved yield of lentil under natural conditions.
