Potassium Releasing Bacteria for Unlocking Soil Potassium- A Way Forward for Judicious Use of Chemical Fertilizers

Jeberlin Prabina Bright *

Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Killikulam, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, India.

Andrea Susan Baby

Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.

Sugitha Thankappan

Department of Agriculture and Biosciences, KITS, Coimbatore 641 402, Tamil Nadu, India.

Aniya Susan George

Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab, India.

Hemant S. Maheshwari

ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Khandwa Road, Indore 452001, India.

Rajinimala Nataraj

Department of Plant Pathology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Killikulam, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, India.

Shakina Judson

Sarah Tucker College, Trinelveli, Tamil Nadu, India.

Asish K. Binodh

Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003,India.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.


Abstract

Potassium (K) is one of the essential macronutrients required for the plants and its availability to plants is hampered due to its fixation with other ions. The Potassium Releasing Micro-organisms (KRMs) present in the soil are capable of converting the fixed form of potassium into an available form of K for the plants to uptake. Most commonly present potash releasing bacteria in rhizosphere soil belong to phylum Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. These microbes produce organic acids, siderophores, biofilms for converting the insoluble K into a soluble form. They also produce some of the plant growth hormones, apart from providing abiotic and biotic stress resistance which results in enhanced yield and quality traits of the crop. The use of KRMs as bio-fertilizer could decrease the level of application of chemical fertilizers and thereby reduce the excess accumulation of potassium in the soil. The presence of sufficient numbers of Potash Releasing Bacteria (KRB) in the soil would ease the potassium transformation processes.

Keywords: Potash releasing microbe, organic acids, rhizosphere, siderophore, sustainable agriculture


How to Cite

Bright, Jeberlin Prabina, Andrea Susan Baby, Sugitha Thankappan, Aniya Susan George, Hemant S. Maheshwari, Rajinimala Nataraj, Shakina Judson, and Asish K. Binodh. 2022. “Potassium Releasing Bacteria for Unlocking Soil Potassium- A Way Forward for Judicious Use of Chemical Fertilizers”. International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 34 (19):49-61. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2022/v34i1931088.