Native Microbial Consortia Effect on Vigour Index and Growth Promotion of Lentil Isolated from Indo-Gangetic Plains

Abstract

This present study explores how various microbial consortia, comprising of seven plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPMs) isolated from the rhizosphere of lentil crops in Indo-Gangetic plains, affect the growth and yield of lentil in laboratory and greenhouse environments. Findings reveal that the microbial consortium containing Rhizobium pusense strain R14 significantly improved the germination rate (100%), root and shoot length (2.74 cm and 5.66 cm respectively), and vigor index of lentil seedlings (710.34), as compared to other combinations and uninoculated control in the petriplate assay. During the greenhouse experiment, the efficacy of seven microbial consortia, formulated with strain R14 either individually or in conjunction with four other PGPMs strains, were assessed. The findings revealed that the consortium consisting of R14, Paraburkholderia caribensis (PSB1), and Bacillus subtilis (B3) performed better than other combinations (approximately 2.02 times greater shoot length, 2.21 times more nodules per plant, and 1.62 times higher fresh shoot weight ) as compare to control. This particular consortium demonstrated significant regarding yield parameters, the highest pod number per plant (25.3), grain yield (1.48 g plant-1), and total biomass content (3.98 g plant-1) Thus, this specific microbial consortia hold promise for enhancing lentil production in the Indo-Gangetic plains.