Consequences of 10 Strains of Potassium, phosphorus, iron and Solubilizing Bacteria and Potabarvar Biofertilizer on the production and Growth of Potatoes in the Greenhouse

Potato is the fifth agricultural crop in the world that is an origin of carbohydrates, proteins and essential amino acids for humans. Agricultural inputs have special performance in increasing the quality and quantity of potatoes. But, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers sometimes leads to many health and biological problems. Useful soil microorganisms can have special efficiency in improving plant growth, harvesting agricultural products and subsequently reducing its costs. In addition to physical and chemical properties, soil condition is closely related to its biological properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the application of 10 strains of potassium, phosphorus and iron solubilizing bacteria on the growth parameters of Geely potato cultivar and to produce Geely’s healthier product.

The research was done in the greenhouse of Hamadan Agricultural Research Center in 1398. It was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications. The treatments included 10 identified potassium, phosphorus and iron solubilizing bacteria, 1 Potabarvar biofertilizer and 1 control treatment (without any biofertilizer and bacteria). The measured traits were tuber wet weight, number of tubers, biological production, plant height, root dry weight, shoot dry weight, dry matter percentage, concentrations of phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc in roots, shoots, tubers and soil.

The results showed that the application of potassium, phosphorus and iron solubilizing bacteria increased the growth parameters of the potato plants, the uptake of phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc by potatoes significantly. The most efficient bacterium in this study was Pseudomonas frederiksbergensis that was more potent than other bacteria for most plant growth parameters and nutrient uptake . For this treatment, root dry weight was obtained 17.66 g/pot, which was 103.92% higher than the control. By the treatment with this bacterium, the maximum shoot dry weight was 47 g/pot which was 88% higher than the control. The concentrations of zinc in roots, and phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc in shoots, that were obtained from inoculation with Pseudomonas frederiksbergensis, were 0.034, 6.666, 333.16, 460, 0.041, 3.86, 24.20 mg/kg, respectively; These values showed significant differences with the control and other treatments. In this study, Enterobacter ludwigii and Brevundimonas vesicularis were the most inefficient bacteria.

The results of the study showed that application of potassium solubilizing bacteria as biofertilizers can improve plant growth and increase its performance. It can be said that the use of biofertilizers along with chemical fertilizers might be helpful to reduce environmental pollution and to decrease costs.