ENHANCING MAIZE YIELD CAPACITY VIA SOIL INOCULATION WITH PSEUDOMONAS SP AND KLEBSIELLA SP

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out at experimental farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria to study the enhancement of maize (Zea mays. L) yield capacity via soil inoculation with pseudomonas Sp and Klebsiella sp . The experiment was carried out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) using three treatments T1(Control), T2(Poultry manure), T3(Poultry manure + Pseudomonas Sp + klebsiella Sp) that was replicated three times. The parameters measured for the maize plant were number of leaves, plant height, leaf area, stem girth. After 8weeks of the experiment, the experiment was terminated and soil samples was collected from the rhizosphere of the maize plant and analysed for both its physical, chemical, and microbial properties. Results obtained from the experiment showed that the combined application of poultry manure with the inoculation of PSB(Phosphorus solubilizing Bacteria) increases the availability of phosphorus and the vegetative growth of the maize plant. The soil pH was not significantly affected from its initial pH of (4.00) to (4.60) at the final pH after sowing. The soil organic carbon, and organic matter in the soil reduced due to its usage by the maize plant and the bacteria .The unavailable phosphorus also increased with application of PM+PSB after sowing .Treatment T3 (PM+PSB₂) had the highest leaf area 623(cm³) and a high number of leaves (15). The results of this investigation suggest that, the use of PM combined with PSB should be encouraged to improve the soil nutrient (P) and increase yield.