Authors : G. P. Santhosh
Page Nos : 243-247
Description :
The study was conducted to formulate and determine the shelf-life of liquid biofertilizers of efficient biofertilizer strains of HK region using different cell protectants and nutrients in liquid broth. The cell protectants used were glycerol (0.5%), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP, 0.5%), polyethylene glycol (PEG, 0.5%), gum arabic (GA, 0.5%) and sodium alginate (SA, 0.1%). The treatments without addition of cell protectants (only broth) and carrier (lignite) based formulation were maintained as check. The formulated liquid biofertilizers of Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum and PSB (Bacillus megaterium) were stored in BOD incubator at 28±2 °C for a period of 180 days and colony forming units were determined at monthly intervals. The liquid biofertilizers formulated using PVP in addition to glycerol at the rate of 0.5% each retained maximum number of colonies in all strains followed by PEG, GA and SA.
Keywords: Cell protectants, Formulation, Liquid biofertilizer, Shelf-life.
