Possibilities of Utilization of an Organism from the Phyllosphere of Eichornia Crassipes for Improvement of Yields of Wheat and Paddy

Nitrogen fixing organisms were isolated from the phyllospere of water hyacinth growing wild at several places in India. When a culture of one of these organisms was sprayed on plants of wheat variety Sonalika growing in pots, the yield of grains was 130% higher than that of uhsprayed plants. When this culture was sprayed on plants of rice variety N.P. 130 that had been grown on soil fertilized or unfertilized with nitrogen, it was found that the yield of unfertilized plants was 180% of the control and that of fertilized plants was 750% of the control. Similar results were obtained with another rice variety, P. 2–21. This strain is now being tried on field scale. The identification of the organism is also in progress.