APPLICATION OF MICROBIAL CONSORTIA IN COCOA SEEDLING GROWTH
Authors: Nurfadzilah M.1 & Ishak Z
Journal Issue: Malaysian Cocoa Journal, Volume 15(1)/2023
Keywords: Microbial consortia, Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, cocoa seedling, and plant growth
Published On: 27/10/2023
Abstract
Biofertilizers are defined as formulations containing living microorganisms or latent cells having the potential of colonizing the roots of crops and plants and promoting growth by improving nutrient availability and acquisition. Most commercially available biofertilizer products are based on single species and have shown success in achieving specific goals following validation, as evidenced by several recent meta-analyses. The main purpose of this present study is to enhance the idea of mixing multiple species with complementary traits which is known as consortium. Furthermore, the use of agricultural waste as a carrier material will help in increasing the efficiency of the biofertilizer and allowing easy handling and prolong the shelf life of the biofertilizer. The research was conducted in the Cocoa Research and Development Centre greenhouse, Jengka, Pahang. Five different formulations of the microbial consortium were prepared, using rice husk char and packed using polyethylene bags, and sterilized at 121°C or 20 minutes before microbial consortia formulations were added according to the treatments. The formulation was added to the pot after two months of plantings. The results of the pot study showed the application of microbial consortia of UL and B7 with half amount of normal inorganic fertilizer applications has an equivalent result with the application of normal applications of inorganic fertilizer but with a lesser amount of inorganic fertilizer (12:12:17:2 +TE).