Increase in Growth and Productivity of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Applied with a Native Strain of Trichoderma brevicompactum in Earthen Pots

This study was conducted to isolate and characterise a native plant growth promoting strain of Trichoderma brevicompactum from the rhizosphere of wheat plants to evaluate its potential as biofertiliser for wheat (Triticum aestivum L). The isolated fungus showed plant growth promoting activities (PGPA) as positive test for production of siderophore, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and solubilisation of phosphate. The strain was identified as T. brevicompactum on the basis of morphological and molecular characterisation by 18S rRNA partial gene sequencing. Fifteen seeds of wheat (T. aestivum L. cv PBW 343) were primed with T. brevicompactum (2´10⁸ conidia/ml) for 30 min and sown in earthen pot at the rate of 15 seed per 8 kg soil. The growth parameters of wheat for example, root and shoot length, number of root hairs and fresh as well as dry weights were measured at 40, 80 and 120 days after sowing, Results showed that the seeds primed with T. brevicompactum inoculum before sowing produced significantly higher biomass over their non-primed controls. Productivity parameters like length of spikelet (35.82%) and grain weight per plant (82.05%) were also significantly higher in plants raised form the primed seeds. Treatment of T. brevicompactum strain enhanced soil nutrients in terms of organic carbon, organic matter, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and phosphate in soil of the rhizospheric region at depth of 0–12 cm. The data indicated that this native strain of T. brevicompactum can be developed as plant growth promoting biofertiliser for cultivation of wheat in addition to its well described role as an effective biopesticide.