Rhizobacterial Inoculation to Improve Wheat Growth and Soil Quality in a Saline Environment

Abstract

Salinity is the most drastic abiotic stress that reduces plant growth and plays havoc to present agriculture. This stress has impacted negatively the staple diet (wheat) resulting into situation of food insecurity. Various strategies are utilized to reduce the impact of salinity but most of them are extremely costly. Therefore, to address this issue this study was conducted using four salts tolerant PGPR isolates as inoculum to minimize salinity impact on wheat crop. Wheat cultivar AZRC-84 was cultivated in pots at Arid Zone Research Center (AZRC) DI Khan with inoculum as treatments. Wheat crops planted in saline soil benefit significantly from the development and production of plant growthpromoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). With the inoculation of all four PGPR, wheat growth in pots improved (ECe = 7.3 dS m-1  greenhouse trial), but the isolate MB3 Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed the greatest growth and dry biomass. All four ST-PGPR simultaneously enhanced soil health in treated pot soil compared to controls. Therefore, it is concluded that the inoculation might be a possible solution to tackle salinity problem.