Synergistic Effect of Endophytic and Rhizospheric Microbes for Plant Growth Promotion of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica L.)

Microbial bioformulations in agriculture is vastly known and accepted for the sustainable agriculture and most of the bioformulation applied in the agricultural fields are developed from a single strain which have displayed inconsistent results. Microbial consortium is one new and promising bioformulation that could be used for growth and development of the crops. In the present investigation, isolation of plant (cereal and pseudocereal)-associated rhizospheric and endophytic microbes exhibiting nitrogen fixation, phosphorus and potassium solubilization capability was carried out. Afterward, the microbial mixture was developed for the growth promotion of foxtail millet crop. A total of 163 bacteria were sorted out and they were screened for nitrogen fixation, P- and K-solubilization attributes. Potent NPK strains were identified as Stenotrophomonas rhizophila EU-FEN-32 (N-fixer), Pseudomonas marginalis EU-FRP-16 (P-solubilizer) and Bacillus sp. strain EU-FRK-38 (K-solubilizer) using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. These strains inoculation on foxtail millet as microbial consortium improved the growth and physiological parameters in comparison with respect to chemical fertilizer and untreated control. The compatible mixture of microbes was found to have more potential and it could be used as bioinoculants for cereal crops growing in hilly regions.