Effect of PGPR on strawberry cultivation under greenhouse conditions

The present study was conducted during 2016–18 to evaluate the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on strawberry cv. ‘Chandler’ under greenhouse conditions. Three PGPR strains (Pseudomonas sp. strain MHA75, Bacillus sp. strain RCA3 and Bacillus sp. strain SYB101) were used either alone or in combination as biofertilizer in a completely randomized design with four replicates. Data obtained from the study showed that the use of PGPR significantly increased fruit quality, yield, plant growth and control of disease. The inoculation of PGPR strains i.e., SYB101, MHA75 + SYB101, RCA3, MHA75 + RCA3 and MHA75 increased cumulative yield by 28.95, 28.15, 23.36, 18.60 and 17.46%, respectively. Ascorbic acid and anthocyanin content of fruit were increased significantly by the application of MHA75+ SYB101 (44.49, 45.54) ml/100 ml and SYB101 (43.96, 45.11) ml/100 ml as compared with the control (38.84, 40.43) ml/100 ml, respectively. Combinations of MHA75 + SYB101 and MHA75 + RCA3 showed 83.25 and 85.0% reduction in gray mould disease than control. Overall, the results of this study suggested that root inoculation with Bacillus sp. strain RCA3 and Bacillus sp. strain SYB101 alone or in combination with Pseudomonas sp. strain MHA75 have the potential to increase the yield and growth of strawberry. These microbial inoculants could be exploited for use under field conditions.