Preliminary Studies on The Response of Two Local Wheat Cultivars to Seed Bacterization

Abstract

Preliminary studies on the response of Sidi El-Masri and El-Muhktar wheat cultivars to seed bacterization with a mixed culture of Azotobacter species were found promising. Tube culture data obtained from five weeks seedings showed an increase of 22 and 26% in the mean weight of roots and 24 and 32% in the mean weight of shoots in inoculated seeds of El-Mukhtar and Sidi El-Masri wheat cultivars, respectively.

The nitrogen fixing potential of the bacterial inoculum was found to be as important as any factor that might be accounted for in increasing plant growth of inoculated seeds. The increase in the percent total nitrogen of plant tops that was found to be 32 and 34% for El-Mukhtar and Sidi El-Masri, respectively, and the calculated S/R values for the latter cultivar confirm the above conclusion.