The study materialized at the Plant Protection Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq to know the effects of adding plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM) (Azospirillum brasilense, Lysinibacillus fusiformis, Rhizobium ciceri CP-93, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus megaterium, and Trichoderma harzianum) as biofertilizers with 25% mineral fertilizer in wheat crops using the wheat cultivar IPA-99. The laboratory study included isolating and identifying Lysinibacillus, which showed no antagonism among these microorganisms in vitro. The study results revealed that the T2 treatment was superior in most of the traits under analysis, including the number of tillers (4.00 tillers plant-1), spike length (10.50 cm), number of spikelets per spike (19.50 spikelets spike-1), weight of 100 grains (3.50 g), and the number of grains per spike (35.43 grains spike-1). The said treatment also excelled in the attributes, such as the grain content of nitrogen (4.870%), phosphorus (1.943%), potassium (4.156%), and protein in the grain (30.43%). The T2 outperformed all treatments, except for the biological yield characteristic, where treatment T5 (62.30 g plant-1) excelled, and the harvest index, with treatment T1 (23.10%) excelled. However, they did not differ significantly from treatment T2.
Wheat, Lysinibacillus fusiformis, biofertilizer, PGPMs, growth and yield traits
Lysinibacillus fusiformis treatment as biofertilizer combined with 25% of the recommended mineral fertilizer doses significantly enhanced the wheat’s growth and yield parameters. Additionally, the biofertilizer also increased the NPK availability in wheat plants.