Rhizobacterial Inoculants for Low Input Wheat-based Cropping Systems

A large part of the Indo-Gangetic plain has marginal soils, which are depleted of nutrients and sandy with low water-holding capacity. Fertilizers and irrigation are applied to obtain regular yield. However, high usage of fertilizers and inappropriate methods of irrigation lead to a degradation of soil microfl ora and loss of soil fertility in the long term. In close collaboration with other partners form the biofertilizer network, the subproject at Pantnagar tested and validated the capacity of selected soil microorganisms for their use as biofertilizers in fi eld trials. The selected microbial strains were isolated during the fi rst programme phase by the groups GBPUAT, TERI and LAMUN. Two plant growth promoting bacterial strains (PGPR) i.e., R62 and R81 and selected arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) strains i.e. were tested in fi eld trials at four sites under different agro-climatic conditions in two different crop rotations (e.g. wheat-rice and wheat-pulse).