Effect of phosphate solubilizing bacteria and phosphate fertilizer on soil bacterial population and some soil chemical properties

Abstract The agricultural waste from the agricultural processing industry can generate environmental pollution. On the other hand, the organic waste, especially from the Empty Oil Palm Fruit Bunches (EFB) and Pineapple Rhizomes (PR), can be used as bio fertilizer, such as phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB). This study examined the effect of applying PSB and the type of phosphate fertilizer (PF) on the soil bacterial population and some soil chemical properties. The study was designed in a 4×3 factorial in a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. The first factor was the type of PSB (without PSB, PSB from EFB, PSB from PR, and a mixture of PSB from EFB+PR). The second factor was the type of phosphate fertilizer (without PF, SP-36 PF, and Moroccan Natural Rock Phosphate (NRP) Fertilizer. The research was conducted in two parallel experiments, one on incubated soil without plants and one on soil planted with cucumbers. The results showed that the PSB population in the PSB PR treatment gave the best results in soil conditions for incubated soil without plants. Soil incubation with PSB and PF had a higher soil pH and organic C percentage than the control treatment. The PSB population in the PSB PR treatment was higher than in the PSB EFB treatment and the PSB EFB+PR mixture on cucumber-planted soil. The PSB populations, available P, and soil organic C with PSB gave the best results on cucumber-planted soil. PSB population was significantly correlated with the number of cucumber fruit, and soil available P was significantly correlated with root dry weight. Therefore, agro-industry organic waste, especially FEB and PR, can be used as bio fertilizers to improve soil fertility.