Interaction effect of consortium of Azospirillum, PSB and AM fungus with reduced levels of N & P fertilizers on growth of direct seeded rice

The efficient strains of Azospirillum, phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and AM fungus were used to inoculate as single, dual and combined in direct seeded rice (DSR). The field experiment was laid out in randomised block design (RBD) with 10 treatments and 3 replications. Among all the treatments, the combined inoculation of Azospirillum, PSB and AM fungus with 75% of recommended doses of N and P performed better with respect to number of leaves (95.67), root dry matter (15.87 g hill⁻¹), stem dry matter (11.75 g hill⁻¹), leaves dry matter (11.75 g hill⁻¹), total dry matter (39.37g hill⁻¹), root length density (7.53 g/cm³) and biomass yield (242.00 g hill⁻¹) at harvest while the other growth parameter viz., leaf area (831.67 cm² hill⁻¹) and leaf area index (4.153) showed maximum at 90 DAS of the DSR compared to other inoculated treatments, RDF application and uninoculated control.