Ameliorative Effect of Humic Acid and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) on Hungarian Vetch Plants under Salinity Stress

Salinity is one of the major abiotic stress factors for cultivated plants, limiting their growth and productivity in many areas of the world. This study aims to determine the ameliorative effects of humic acid (HA) and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPR) on amino acids, enzymes, minerals, organic acids and hormones in Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica) plants under salinity stress conditions. Salinity stress was established by adding 0, 10, 30 and 60mM of sodium chloride (NaCl) to growing media. HA and PGPR treatments had positive ameliorative effects on the minerals, organic acids, hormones and enzyme activity of Hungarian vetch plants under salinity stress conditions. PGPR treatments showed better ameliorative effects than HA. This study suggests that PGPR treatments have the potential to be used as alleviator fertilizer in salinity stress conditions and may have ameliorated the deleterious effects of salt stress on Hungarian vetch plants.