Nitrogen economy through the use of Azotobacter biofertilizer in potato

Field experiments, on potato cv. Kufri Badshah during rabi 1997–98 to 1999–2000 to evaluate the efficiency of Azotobacter biotertilizers viz. strain Ala-27, MSX-9 and PS-2 with and without nitrogen revealed that Azotobacter inoculations increased potato tuber yield from 5–14% in the absence of nitrogen. Of the three Azotobacter strains used, the strain MSX-9 produced highest tuber yield at 100 kg N/ha, 9% more tuber yield than the recommended dose of nitrogen (100 kg/ha) alone. This strain when inoculated with 75 kg N/ha produced tuber yield of 313 q/ha which was about 6% higher than recommended dose of nitrogen alone, thus showing a net saving of 25 kg N/ha due to biofertilizer use.