Azospirillum: A biofertilizer for every crop

Abstract

Azospirillum is known for its nitrogen-fixing and phytohormone production ability. It is one of very well-studied plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, at lab scale to field. None of its species or strain is reported as human or plant pathogen. It is considered as safest bacteria which can be used as a biofertilizer at commercial level for several crops, especially cereals or grasses including wheat and rice which are of economic importance for the whole world. Some of its species are reported for phosphate-solubilizing ability and high salt tolerance. Fifteen of its species have been isolated from variety of hosts and environmental sources; however, a majority have been reported from plants. There are several reviews available on this organism; in this chapter, an overview of this organism covering its plant growthpromoting abilities, used as inoculum in lab and field experiments and used as a commercial biofertilizer for different crops, is provided.