Increase in above ground dry matter accumulation with application microbial consortia and zinc fertilization in different cultivation methods of wheat

The field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different methods of wheat cultivation, microbial consortia application and zinc (Zn) (0 and 5 kg Zn ha-1 soil applied through zinc sulphate heptahydrate) fertilization on the growth attributes of wheat. The experiment was conducted in split plot design and replication thrice with wheat variety HD-2967. The results showed that, application of RDN (120 kg N/ha and 25.8 kg P/ha) + Zn recorded highest value for all the dry matter accumulation, leaf area index (LAI) and crop growth rate (CGR) studied which remain on par with application of 75% RDN + Anabaena sp. (CR1) + Providencia sp. (PR3) consortia + Zn and 75% RDN + Anabaena-Pseudomonas biofilmed formulations + Zn. The increase in dry matter production due to microbial inoculation was 11.1-12.0 and 35.2-44.7 g/m2 at 60 and 90 DAS, respectively; while Zn fertilization increases dry matter production by 9.8-11.6 g/m2 and 18.2-20.0 g/m2 at 60 and 90 DAS, respectively. The zero tillage wheat was significantly superior in LAI and CGR over conventional drill sown wheat and system of wheat intensification.