article · Agronomy
Water deficit and low soil fertility significantly hinder wheat development, nutrient absorption, and final grain yields. A two-season field study evaluated the capacity of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and salicylic acid, applied individually and together, to alleviate drought stress in wheat. Applying beneficial bacteria boosted soil microbial activity, which enhanced field capacity and available water retention in the soil. Furthermore, combining bacterial inoculation with foliar salicylic acid applications delivered notable physiological benefits under water-deficient conditions. This joint treatment increased leaf chlorophyll levels, plant relative water content, stomatal conductance, and root-zone microbial numbers, whilst lowering stress-induced proline accumulation. Consequently, the combined approach improved overall productivity, key yield-related characteristics, and the plant uptake of essential nutrients, specifically nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, under water-limited conditions.
Drought stress poses a severe threat to cereal production and global food security. Demonstrating that beneficial soil microbes combined with salicylic acid can protect wheat crops against water shortages offers practical options to sustain yields. Improving plant nutrient uptake and soil water retention through these treatments helps farmers maintain agricultural productivity in regions prone to water scarcity.
This work demonstrates an applied, field-tested strategy that could be adopted by biofertiliser manufacturers, agricultural input suppliers, and wheat growers facing seasonal drought. The inputs could be developed into integrated soil inoculant and foliar spray programmes to support cereal yields in dry environments. Given that the trials were conducted across two growing seasons in field conditions, the intervention is relatively close to practical on-farm adoption.
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Water deficit and soil infertility negatively influence the growth, nutrient uptake, and productivity of wheat. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and salicylic acid (SA) were evaluated as possible solutions to mitigate the impacts of water deficit on growth, physiology, productivity, and nutrient uptake of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Sakha 95). Over two growing seasons (2016/2017 and 2017/2018) field experiments were conducted to examine eight combinations of two water treatments (water deficit and well-watered) with four soil and foliar treatments (control, PGPR, SA, and combination of PGPR + SA). The application of PGPR increased soil microbial activity resulting in increased field capacity and available soil water. Likewise, the application of the combined treatment of PGPR and SA significantly increased chlorophyll content, relative water content, stomatal conductance, soil microbial population, and showed inhibitory impacts on proline content, thus improving yield-related traits, productivity, and nutrient uptake (N, P, K) under water deficit compared to the control treatment. The results show that the integrative use of PGPR in association with SA may achieve an efficacious strategy to attenuate the harmful effects of water deficit as well as the amelioration of productivity and nutrient uptake of wheat under water-deficient conditions.
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DOI: 10.3390/agronomy9090524
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