Microbial Technologies for Sustainable Farming

Introduction

Azotobacter

The use of Azotobacter inoculants is recommended in crops like wheat, paddy, maize, barley, tomato, potato, cotton and mustard. Azotobacter fixes atmospheric nitrogen in soil and helps in saving chemical fertilizers by 15-20 kg/N/ha. Besides this, it also secretes growth promoting substances, which helps in better seed germination and proliferation of roots, thus, improving nutrient availability for plants.

Azotobacter suppresses the growth of some saprophytic and plant pathogenic microorganisms in rhizosphere and therefore, reduces the crop damage due to plant diseases. Azotobacter helps in maintaining better plant population, growth and improves yield of crops. In general, 10–20% increase in grain yield over that of uninoculated control has been recorded due to inoculation with Azotobacter.

For further information please contact :

Indian Agricultural Research Institute,
New Delhi,
Delhi 110012