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Yield increases in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) inoculated withAzospirillum lipoferum under greenhouse and field conditions of a temperate region

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Summary

Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum var. Arkas) was associated withAzospirillum lipoferum under greenhouse and field conditions of a temperate region. Controls were treated with autoclaved bacteria. The soils used were: sand, sandy loam, and a peat-clay mixture. In experiments run over a period of three years, there were increases in grain yield, N-yield of the grains, and 1000 grain weight.

Depending from environmental conditions, increase changed from year to year, and within one given year. There was, however, no experiment without positive response to the inoculation. Highest grain yield increase (70%) was found on sand supplemented with P and K only, but up to 32% were also obtained on peat-clay soil containing 0.28% total N. Under greenhouse conditions, one third of technical N-fertilizer could be saved by bacterial activities. With high probability the effects observed have been at least partly due to bacterial N2-fixation, because the N-yield of the grains was increased (up to 33%), and the most pronounced response was found on sand without any N-fertilizer added.

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  1. Lehrstuhl für Botanische Entwicklungsphysiologie, University of Hohenheim, D-7000, Stuttgart 70, Germany

    T. Mertens & D. Hess

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Mertens, T., Hess, D. Yield increases in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) inoculated withAzospirillum lipoferum under greenhouse and field conditions of a temperate region. Plant Soil 82, 87–99 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220773

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220773

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