Presence of phytate-solubilizing micro-organisms in tea soils of northeast India and their efficiency to solubilize bound P in soil

Abstract

Phosphorus availability is a major problem in the tea growing soils of northeast India. Applied inorganic phosphorus compounds are readily bound with soil colloids and become unavailable to plants. Phytate compounds are the most stable forms of organic phosphorus in soil. This study was initiated to find out whether micro-organisms are capable of solubilizing such stable P compounds from tea soil and whether P availability can be enhanced after application of such micro-organisms. The isolated strains were inoculated in soil under laboratory condition and incubation studies were carried out and available P was monitored after 15 days. It was observed that there is potential for such phytate solubilising organisms to mine native P and that fungal strains were more effective than bacterial ones.