FIELD PERFORMANCE OF BLUE PINE (PINUS WALLICHIANA) SEEDLINGS INOCULATED WITH SELECTED SPECIES OF BIO-INOCULANTS UNDER NURSERY CONDITIONS

Abstract

A pot experiment was carried out during 2009 and 2010 to study the field performance of blue pine seedlings inoculated with selected species of bio-inoculants  under nursery conditions .The experiment was laid in Completely Randomized Design with three replications which comprised of seven inoculants (Azotobacter sp., Azospirillum sp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus subtilis, Pisolithus tinctorius, Laccaria laccata and control). Various growth characters viz., shoot height, collar diameter, root length, and seedling  survival  at various intervals responded significantly to all the microbial inoculants. Among microbial inoculants the two mycorrhizae viz., Pisolithus tinctorius and Laccaria laccata proved beneficial for all growth parameters than rest of the inoculants. It was   followed by Azotobacter sp., Azospirillum sp., Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis. However for root length Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis gave best results than Azotobacter sp. and Azospirillum sp. Microbial inoculation of Pisolithus  tinctorius and Laccaria laccata gave best results with respect to per cent decrease in seedling  mortality rate of the species. Thus the two treatments viz; Pisolithus tinctorius and Laccaria laccata proved superior for all the studied growth parameters. Our  findings show that the application of  bio-inoculants improve the growth attributes of  blue pine seedlings  under natural field conditions.