Augmenting Nitrogen and Phosphorus Content of Mungbean Seeds through Salt Tolerant Bacteria

A total of 75 salt affected soil samples were collected from the saline rhizospheric soils of Tungabhadra command area and are used for the isolation of salt tolerant bacteria. A total of 450 salt tolerant bacterial isolates were isolated on nutrient agar medium supplemented with dissimilar salt (NaCl) concentration viz. , 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 per cent and all the isolates could also able to grow at 12 per cent salt. Finally, 20 salt tolerant bacteria were selected and subjected for morphological, biochemical and PGPR activity tests, in which GP-21, GS-36 and MP-63 emerged as an efficient P- solubilizer, nitrogen fixer and Indole acetic acid producer, respectively. Combined inoculation of GP-21 + GS-36 + MP-63 significantly enhanced nitrogen (3.11 g kg-1) and phosphorus (0.31 g kg-1) content of mungbean seeds, compared to all other treatment and uninoculated control (1.91 and 0.12 g kg-1) and resulted in the higher seed yield (1.58 g plant -1) compared to uninoculated control (0.33 g plant -1).