Effect of Application of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria and Amino Acids Foliar Application on Growth Characteristics, Yield, and Nutritional Value of Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Rice (Oryza sativa L.), as one of the most important cereals, is the main food of more than 50% of the world's population. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers in paddy fields has caused many environmental problems. Therefore, the application of biological fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers to increase the yield of crops and produce more food is one of the important goals of sustainable agriculture, which is necessary for human life. Bacteria is an example of biological fertilizer used in agriculture, which plays an important role in improving soil structure, improving plant growth, and increasing the quantitative and qualitative yield of crops. Another biological stimulant of plants is amino acids, which can increase plant growth, improve nutrients uptake, and increase grain yield and grain quality of crops. Methionine is the precursor of growth regulators such as auxin, cytokinin, and brassinosteroids and is known as the most important growth-limiting amino acid in plants. Lysine is an essential amino acid that is involved in the germination of pollen grains, chlorophyll synthesis, and crop production. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of different strains of plant growth-promoting bacteria and amino acids on growth, yield, and concentration of nutrients in rice.

The field experiment was arranged as a split-plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications at the farmer's field located in Mazandaran province, Amol during 2019-2020 cropping seasons. In the present research, the plant growth-promoting bacteria at five levels (control or without bacteria [B0], P. agglomerans strain O4 [B1], P. putida strain P13 + P. agglomerans strain P5 [B2], P. koreensis strain S14 + P. vancouverensis strain S19 [B3] and combination of different strains [B4]) as the main factor and amino acids foliar application in four levels (control or without amino acids [A0], methionine [A1], lysine [A2] and methionine + lysine [A3]) as the sub-factor were considered. The plant growth-promoting bacteria at the rate of 100 g.ha-1 and amino acids at a concentration of 2.5 per thousand were applied in this study. At physiological maturity, the growth, yield components, grain yield, and nutrients uptake (NPK) in grain were measured. A combined analysis of variance was performed using SAS software version 9.2. Mean values were compared using least significant difference (LSD) test at 5% probability level.

The outcomes established that the bacteria treatment exerted a notable impact on all examined traits, excluding the count of fertile tillers per hill. Equally noteworthy, the amino acid intervention displayed significance in terms of 1000-grain weight, grain yield, and nitrogen concentration in rice grains. However, the interaction between bacteria and amino acids exhibited no significance across the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of rice. The concurrent utilization of bacteria strains, specifically B4, yielded substantial enhancements in panicle length (24.22 cm), the count of filled grains per panicle (60.30 filled grains), 1000-grain weight (28.52 g), grain yield (5097.50 kg.ha-1), and the amelioration of nutrients concentrations. Notably, nutrients like nitrogen (1.61%), phosphorus (7.04%), and potassium (1.53%) exhibited improvements in rice grains, in comparison to instances involving separate strain applications and the control group. Simultaneous foliar application of methionine and lysine amino acids resulted in maximum 1000-grain weight (26.90 g), highest grain yield (4844.73 kg.ha-1), and production of the greatest nitrogen content in grain (1.40%). In the present research, the increase in grain yield by combined application of different bacteria strains might be due to enhancing growth, improving yield components such as 1000-grain weight and filled grains number per panicle, and increasing nutrients concentration (NPK) in rice. Also, the simultaneous foliar application of methionine and lysine led to an increase in rice grain yield through increasing 1000-grain weight and improving nitrogen uptake in rice grains.

According to the results of this experiment, the combined application of the bacteria strains (P. agglomerans strain O4 + P. putida strain P13 + P. agglomerans strain P5 + P. koreensis strain S14 + P. vancouverensis strain S19) and simultaneous foliar application of methionine and lysine can play an important role in improving growth, yield and nutrients uptake in rice grains.