Nitrogen, P and K are essential macronutrients that are not readily available to plants. Rhizobacteria are able to convert these unavailable forms for subsequent uptake by the plant, diverse species have been characterized as N
2 fixers, P
solubilizers and capable to solubilize mineral K from unavailable forms. The objective of this study was to select rhizobacteria capable of improving NPK availability and promoting tomato (
Solanum lycopersicum
L.) growth. Fifteen strains were studied. Four strains were selected for their capacity to fix N
2, three for their ability to solubilize P, and six for their capacity to solubilize biotite and K-feldspar, isolated from tomato, lentil, chili pepper, faba bean and lettuce crops in Andisol and Alfisol soils. Through 16SrRNA sequencing, selected strains were identified as
Pseudomonas gessardi
,
P. koreensis
,
P. brassicacearum
,
P. marginalis
,
Acinetobacter calcoaceticus
and
Rahnella aquatica
. Phosphorus solubilizing strains did not show a positive effect on plant growth or an increase in available soil P. The N
2 fixing bacteria Tmt-16 strain increased root growth in 23.57%; maintained the highest N content in plant tissue, 2.60%, higher amount of N available in the soil, 2.95 mg kg
-1, and a higher content of N-NH
4+ 1.95 mg kg
-1. The K solubilizing strains Ls-C21, Ltj-62 and LsC-58 reached 17.0 to 19.0 mg kg
-1 available K and 0.04 to 0.05 mg kg
-1 exchangeable K (p ≤ 0.05.). These four endemic rhizobacteria can be potentially used as biofertilizers, allowing a reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers and a more sustainable production of tomatoes.
