Effect of Inoculation of Microbial Consortia on Soil Physicochemical and Nutrient Status

The experiment was conducted in kharif, 2018 at ARS, Amaravathi, Guntur district, to find the efficiency of carrier based microbial consortia. In sorghum carrier based microbial consortia was applied along with different doses of chemical fertilizers. Microbial consortium-1 (Azospirillium, P-solubilizer, K-releaser, Zn-solubilizer and PGPR isolate), Microbial consortium-2 (Azotobacter, Azospirillium, P-solubilizer, K-releaser, Zn-solubilizer and PGPR isolate) were used in the study. Soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium were recorded during different intervals of crop growth. The treatments with microbial consortia and 75% Recommended Dose of Fertilizers (RDF) showed increased available nutrients content. Soil pH was neutralized in the microbial consortia added treatments, while in treatments with RDF alone the pH was more. There was a significant increase in organic carbon content in treatments with microbial consortia and 75% RDF. Highest available nutrients and organic carbon content was observed in T10 (75% RDF+ Microbial consortium-2). The organic carbon content improved gradually during the crop period and highest was at harvesting stage. All the soil physicochemical properties were improved by the microbial consortia with decreased doses of chemical fertilizers compared to the treatments added with chemical fertilizers alone.