Response of Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties to Azospirillum brasilense Inoculation

SUMMARYAn attempt was made to study the effect of Azospirillum inoculation on the different paddy varieties to find out the best variety in terms of seedling characters such as seed germination, biomass and phytomass yield under controlled conditions. In the case of seed germination, the percentage of seed germination was higher in Azospirillum treated seeds than in control. Similarly, shoot and root lengths and fresh and dry weights of paddy varieties treated with Azospirillum inoculation showed better response than the untreated plants due to the secretion of plant growth hormones by Azospirillum. The biochemical parameters such as total chlorophyll, carotenoid, soluble protein and sugar and physiological parameters like photosynthetic rate were also increased to varying level in Azospirillum treated plants. The overall studies indicated that the growth of Azospirillum treated paddy seedlings excelled over the untreated ones due to biofertilizer effect upon nitrogen fixation. Among the several varieties tested for Azospirillum treatment, CO43 and AS89044 varieties showed good response.T. Kannan and P. Ponmurugan. Effect of Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties in Response to Azospirillum brasilense Inoculation. J Phytol 2/6 (2010) 08-13