Development and Evaluation of Bioformulations Using Enrichment Material from Plant Growth Promoting Fluorescent Pseudomonads

Increase in soil fertility, plant growth promotion and suppression of phytopathogens are the targets of the bioformulation industry that leads to the development of ecofriendly environment. The aim of this study is to evaluate different enrichment materials for the development of effective bioformulation with prolonged shelf life. Twentysix fluorescent pseudomonad isolates were screened for antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum. Selected isolate TS2 identified as Pseudomonas sp. on the bases of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis showed production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, ammonia, cellulase, phenazine antibiotics and phosphate solubilisation. Skimmed milk, sucrose, molasses and trehalose were used as enrichment material for development of talc-based bioformulation of TS2. Sucrose-amended bioformulation followed by molasses was found to be the best among developed bioformulations for supporting TS2 population. However, in presence of pathogen, bioformulation enriched with molasses showed maximum enhancement in dry weight of chickpea taken as test crop. The finding of this study suggests that enrichment of carrier permits the retention of cell viability thus increasing the effectiveness of the active material.