Effect of plant growth-promoting bacteria and inoculation media in the yield on cooksfoot yield

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effect of three PGPB bacteria (Ewingella americana, Bacillus simplex and Microbacterium ginsengiterrae) and three inoculation media (digestate, compost and cornstarch) on plant height, leaf temperature, stalkdensity, morphological composition, and dry matter yield of orchard grass.Design/Methodology/Approach: A completely randomized design was used, with a factorial arrangement 4X3, the experimental units being a pot with five initial stalks.Results: The dry matter did not show difference between treatments with bacteria (P>0.05), but the control the values increased up to 50%. Compost and digestate media outperformed cornstarch by 22%. The inoculation media had an effect(P?0.05) on the yield and leaf variables, while the bacteria promoted the formation of new stalks and the production of  biomass, and reduced the leaf temperature.Findings/Conclusions: Compost and digestate as inoculation media can notably favor the beneficial effect of M. ginsengiterrae, which was the one that registered the best yields