Agron. Sustain. Dev. 26 (2006) 233-240
DOI: 10.1051/agro:2006020

Rock phosphate-potassium and rock-solubilising bacteria as alternative, sustainable fertilisers

Supanjani^a, Hyo Shim Han^b, Jae Sung Jung^b and Kyung Dong Lee<sup>a, c

a</sup>  Department of Plant Science, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada
^b  Department of Biology, Sunchon National University, Suncheon, Jeonnam 540-742, Korea
^c  Department of Oriental Medicine Materials, Dongshin University, 252 Daeho-dong, Naju, Jeonnam 520-714, Korea

(Accepted 9 August 2006; published online 23 January 2007)

Abstract - Classical, soluble fertilisers create environmental and economic problems. As an alternative, we studied the direct applications of phosphate rock and potassium rock in conjunction with phosphate-solubilising bacteria and potassium-solubilising bacteria for cultivation of hot pepper Capsicum annuum L. Our findings show that integration of P and K rocks with inoculation of P- and K-solubilising bacteria increased P availability from 12 to 21% and K availability from 13 to 15% in the soil as compared with control, and subsequently improved nutrient (N, P and K) uptake to the plant. This integration also increased plant photosynthesis by 16% and leaf area by 35% as compared with control plants. Similarly, biomass harvest and fruit yield of the treated plants were 23% and 30%, respectively, higher as compared with control. Overall, we found that the treatment with P and K rocks and PK-solubilising bacterial strains and the treatment with classical, soluble fertiliser have a similar effectiveness. Therefore, direct application of P and K rocks and solubilising bacteria is a promising, sustainable alternative to the use of classical fertilisers.

Key words: hot pepper / phosphate-solubilising bacteria / potassium-solubilising bacteria / mineral uptake / soil availability / acid phosphatase activity

Corresponding author: Kyung Dong Lee leekd1@hotmail.com

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2006