RA 00110.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

Azospirillum as a Seed Inoculant
Azospirillum brasilence is a free-living bacterium
which exhibits associated symbiosis when present in
the rhizosphere. These bacteria are capable of fixing
10-28 mg g -1 N of calcium malate in pure culture. In
experiments conducted at seven locations over 3
years, inoculation of pearl millet seed with the local
strains of the bacterium has increased yields markedly.
According to Gautam (1984), the effectiveness of the
bacterium increased considerably when it was applied
in addition to low rates of N at 10-40 kg ha -1
(Table 7).
Control of Evapotranspiration
A widely-spaced pearl millet crop grown in the hotter
parts of the year can lose considerable soil moisture.
Organic mulching was tried by Dahiya and
Singh (1977) and Malik (1979) at Hisar. They found
that application of wheat or rice straw increased the
pearl millet yield about 25%. This decreased the soil
temperature by 4°C and increased the soil moisture
content by 3%. Dauley et al. (1979) reported from
Jodhpur in western India that polyethylene film was
as good as organic mulches, but both were effective
only in years when rainfall distribution was not
uniform.
Transpiration control as a means of decreasing
soil moisture loss was studied by Kaushik and Gautam
(1984), who found that grain yield was increased
considerably by removing the upper one-third of the
plant or foliar application of chemicals such as
borax, kaolin, or atrazine, or by presowing treat-
Table 7. Effect of N application and Azospirillum seed
treatment on the grain yield of pearl millet.
Treatments
Control
Azospirillum
10 kg ha -1 N
20 kg ha -1 N
40 kg ha -1 N
10 kg ha -1 N
20 kg ha -1 N
40 kg ha -1 N
Source: Gautam 1984.
+ Azospirillum
+ Azospirillum
+ Azospirillum
Grain yield (kg ha -1 )
(Mean of 6 locations
over 3 years)
1150
1390
1450
1650
1910
1560
1840
2100
Table 8. Effect of treatments on grain yield of pearl millet.
Treatments
Untreated control
Topping (30 days growth)
Borax spray on plants (0.2% solution)
Kaolin spray on plants (6% suspension)
Atrazine spray on plants (100 ppm)
Presowing treatment with 0.2% KNO 3
Presowing treatment with 0.2% NaCl
Skipping alternate rows
Dry straw mulch at 5 t ha -1
C D 5%
Source: Kaushik and Gautam 1984,
Grain
yield
(kg ha -1 )
1600
1880
2100
1930
2050
2370
2050
1250
2300
230
ment with 0.2% solutions of KNO 3 or NaCl. These
chemical treatments were as good as straw mulch
applied at the rate of 5 t ha -1 (Table 8).
References
A I C M I P (All India Coordinated Millets Improvement
Project). 1970-1973. Proceedings of the annual workshop
of the A l l India Coordinated Millets Improvement Project
(1970 to 1973). New Delhi, India: Indian Council of Agricultural
Research.
Dahiya, D.R., and Singh, K. 1977. Effect of nitrogen doses
and its time and method of application on pearl millet with
and without mulch in dry farming conditions. Indian Journal
of Agronomy 22:35-40.
Daulay, H.S., Singh, H.P., Singh, R.P., and Singh, K.C.
1979. Effect of various anti-transpirants on the grain yield
of pearl millet. Annals of Arid Zone 18:101-115.
De, R, Gupta, R.S., Singh, S.P., Pal, M . , Singh, S.N.,
Sharma, R.N., and Kaushik, S.K. 1978. Inter-planting
maize, sorghum and pearl millet with short-duration grain
legumes. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 48:
132-137.
Gautam, R.C. 1970. A note on optimum plant space for
hybrid bajra (Pennisetum typhoides). Indian Journal of
Agronomy 15:395-396.
Gautam, R.C. 1975. Effect of N fertilization and row spacing
on the yield of hybrid pearl millet. Indian Journal of
Agronomy 20:325-327.
Gautam, R.C. 1984. Research findings in bajra cultivation.
Indian Farming 34(3):7-13.
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