農業科学と食品研究ジャーナル
オープンアクセス

概要

Evaluation of Bio-inoculants Enriched Marginal Soils as Potting Mixture in Coffee Nursery

Shiva Prasad P, Hareesh SB, Maria Violet D’souza*, Manjunath AN and Jayarama

Fertile jungle soil is a primary ingredient of potting mixture used in coffee nursery to raise healthy, vigorous seedlings and in recent times its availability has diminished due to the receding forest lands in traditional coffee cultivating areas. Hence a nursery trial was conducted with the objective of exploring the possibility of utilizing marginal or less fertile soils enriched with bio-inoculants in the potting mixture. Two soils, (soil-1 and soil-2), which are less fertile and marginal in characteristics compared to the jungle soil enriched with bio-inoculants consortia of Azosprillum, Pseudomonas flurosence, Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria (PSB) and Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrihiza (VAM) were employed in the secondary nursery to raise coffee seedlings and monitored for growth parameters, nutrient uptake, soil nutrient status and colony forming units for about 200 days after sowing. The results of the study indicated that the recommended Standard Package of Practice (SPP) with jungle soil, Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and sand in the 6:2:1 proportion is a best suited potting mixture to raise the coffee nursery. But in absence of the fertile jungle soil, the marginal soils also can be utilized as an ingredient of potting mixture with due care to incorporate adequate quantity of farm yard manure and the microbial consortia is not a substitute for FYM in the potting mixture.