Efficiency of Microbial Population in Rhizosphere at Different Growth Stages of Paddy in Vertisol of Chhattisgarh

A field study was carried out during Kharif season of 2010-11 at the Research and Instructional Farm of Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur. Experiment was conducted to examine the efficiency of microbial population in rhizosphere at different growth stages of paddy in Vertisol of Chhattisgarh as influenced by long term application of fertilizers and manure. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Block Design with 4 replications having treatments: T₁ (Control without fertilizer), T₂ (100%NPK), T₃ (100% N alone), T₄ (100%NPK+FYM) and T₅ (50%NPK+green manure). A medium duration high yielding paddy variety Mahamaya was taken as crop. The microbial population (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, N₂ fixing bacteria) density at different growth stages in paddy crop showed variations in microbial population due to fertilizer application, the highest microbial population was recorded under T₄ (100%NPK+FYM) followed by T₅ (50%NPK+GM), T₂ (100%NPK) and T₁ (Control) recorded the lowest microbial population. The grain yield of rice was observed to be significantly influenced due to different treatments. The highest was recorded with T₄ (100%NPK+FYM) and was found significantly superior over rest of the treatments. The lowest grain yield was noticed under control plot.