Effects of Biofertilizers and Organic Amendments on Nutrient Availability in Soil and Plant Growth

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dc.contributor.authorMott, Joshua Darellen
dc.contributor.committeechairAbaye, Azenegashe Ozzieen
dc.contributor.committeechairMaguire, Rory O.en
dc.contributor.committeememberWhitehurst, Garnett B.en
dc.contributor.committeememberReiter, Mark S.en
dc.contributor.departmentCrop and Soil Environmental Sciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-29T08:00:23Zen
dc.date.available2022-04-29T08:00:23Zen
dc.date.issued2022-04-28en
dc.description.abstractApplications of fertilizers derived from non-renewable resources, along with improved land management practices have contributed greatly increased crop yields in the past 70 years. Biofertilizers and organic amendments, provide alternative sources of nutrients for increased plant yields and resistance against abiotic stress. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of various biofertilizers and an organic amendment on improve plant health and/or crop yield. The first study focused on the organic amendment, glucoheptonate and found that applications of 800-1600 kg/ha can increase available water capacity in fine textured soils by up to 3%. The second study evaluated the effectiveness of dual-inoculating biofertilizers Mung beans (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) with two, bradyrhizobium spp. and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Dual inoculation significantly increased grain yield (+33%) compared to a synthetic N fertilizer application but did not significantly increase grain yield compared to the control (+22%). Dual inoculation may increase grain yields of mung beans compared to synthetic fertilizer regime but does not show evidence of improving N fixation. The final study was a greenhouse experiment focused on evaluating some mung bean cultivars to determine their susceptibility to salt stress while also evaluating the effect of inoculation in combating saline soils. Germination was significantly decreased at 6 dS/m in all cultivars by about 36% when compared to the control treatment (0 dS/m). Seed yields, pods per plant and seeds per plant, increased as salt concentration increased. No factors recorded where affected by inoculation. Overall, our research suggests that the use of biofertilizers and organic amendments can improve crop health, but other management and environmental considerations need to be accounted for when reporting effectiveness of such alternative soil amendmentsen
dc.description.abstractgeneralApplications of fertilizers derived from non-renewable resources, along with improved land management practices have contributed greatly to increased crop yields in the past 70 years. Biofertilizers and organic amendments, provide alternative sources of nutrients for increased plant yields and resistance against abiotic stress. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of an organic amendment and various biofertilizers to improve plant health and/or crop yield. The first study focused on the organic amendment, glucoheptonate and found that applications of 800-1600 kg/ha can increase available water capacity in fine textured soils by up to 3%. The second study evaluated the effectiveness of dual-inoculating Mung beans (Vigna radiata (L.)Wilczek) with two biofertilizers, bradyrhizobium spp. and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Dual inoculation significantly increased grain yield (+33%) compared to a synthetic N fertilizer application but did not significantly increase grain yield compared to the control (+22%). Dual inoculation may increase grain yields of mung bean compared to synthetic fertilizer regime but does not show evidence of improving N fixation. The final study was a greenhouse experiment focused on evaluating mung bean cultivars (4) to determine their susceptibility to salt stress while also evaluating the effect of inoculation in combating the effect of saline soils. Germination was significantly decreased by about 36% at a salinity of 6 dS/m across all cultivars compared to the control at 0 dS/m. Seed yields, pods per plant and seeds per plant, increased as salt concentration increased for some cultivars. No factors recorded were observed to be affected by inoculation. Overall, our research suggests that the use of biofertilizers and organic amendments can improve crop health, but other management and environmental considerations need to be accounted for when reporting effectiveness of such alternative soil amendments.en
dc.description.degreeDoctor of Philosophyen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:34232en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/109766en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectNutrient fixationen
dc.subjectinoculationen
dc.subjectsoil physical propertiesen
dc.subjectnitrogen (N)en
dc.subjectsalinityen
dc.titleEffects of Biofertilizers and Organic Amendments on Nutrient Availability in Soil and Plant Growthen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineCrop and Soil Environmental Sciencesen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

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