Microbial Effects on Seed Germination in Malaysian rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Abstract

Seed germination is the basis of plant growth as it determines the viability of rice. A laboratory experiment was conducted to observe the effect of microbial inoculation on seed germination and seedling growth of two lowland rice varieties (Mahsuri and Sri Malaysia 1) and two upland rice landraces (Panderas and SK-1). The experiment was conducted using wet filter paper in Petri dish. The design of the experiment was completely randomized (CRD) with three replicates. Three selected growth promoting microbes Nitrosomonas europaea , Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Acinetobacter sp . were used in the experiment. Seeds inoculated with those microbes and the Petri dish were kept in the dark for five days and subsequently subjected to light condition for another five days. The seed germination and other related attributes were measured. Significance and non significant differences were observed for growth parameters and germination traits, respectively. Among the microbes, Nitrosomonas europaea and its combination performed better in root length and combination of Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Acinetobacter sp . promotes the best growth of shoot. Nitrosomas europaea has shown to play a major role in the germination rate growth in all varieties. It is therefore concluded that growth promoting microbes may have positive effects on germination of rice seeds.