![Sample our Environment & Sustainability journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5935/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Environment-Sustainability.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Inoculant biofertilizer application increased fertilizer nitrogen (N) use efficiency in Vietnam in some previous field experiments. Similar results may be obtained in Australia. With this view in mind, a greenhouse experiment and two field experiments were conducted using a Vietnamese inoculant biofertilizer (BioGro) and several other plant growth promoting (PGP) bacteria. In the greenhouse trial, bacterial inoculations increased shoot and root weights of rice plants significantly. In the field experiments, particularly with Rhizobium leguminosarum, similar effects including significant differences in nitrogen uptake in vegetative matter were observed at the panicle initiation (PI) stage. However, these effects were not significant on grain yield at harvest and it is concluded that the much longer period of growth for Australian rice may allow compensation between treatments. Re-inoculation of plants at the PI stage, and lower application rates of N fertilizer in at least two splits are suggested for future field experiments.
KEYWORDS:
Acknowledgments
The investigators are grateful to Professor Nguyen Thanh Hien (Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam) for supplying the three Vietnamese bacterial strains.
Funding
The investigators are grateful to ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) for providing funds.