Potassium-mobilizing bacterial isolates: A sustainable approach to enhance growth parameters and yield of Bt cotton

The field experiments were conducted for two consequent years 2022 and 2023 at same place at Research farm, All India Network Project on Soil Biodiversity-Biofertilizers, Vasantrao Naik Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani, to study the potassium-mobilizing bacterial isolates: a sustainable approach to enhance growth parameters and yield of Bt cotton. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with ten treatments and three replications. Different bacterial isolates with recommended dose of fertilizer were used in experiment. This study explores the role of potassium-mobilizing bacterial isolates (KMBIs) as sustainable bioinoculants to enhance growth parameters and yield in Bt cotton. These rhizospheric microbes solubilize insoluble potassium minerals, improving potassium availability in soil through mechanisms such as acid production and chelation. Field experiments demonstrated that the inoculation of potassium mobilizing bacteria with recommended dose of fertilizer significantly improved growth attributes, including plant height, number of leaves, number of branches, root development, chlorophyll content, and yield attributes of Bt cotton. Among the different treatments T9 RDF + Frateuria aurantia and T10 RDF + Pseudomonas striata was recorded significantly highest growth and yield attributes of Bt cotton. followed by KSB -M-1 -Pseudomonas spp., KSB -M-2- Pseudomonas spp and KSB -W-1- Bacillus spp. Whereas, lowest values recorded in uninoculated treatment i.e. T1 absolute control and T2 RDF only. Findings revealed that microbial interventions with recommended dose of fertilizer enhance the growth and yield of Bt cotton grown in Vertisol.