THE EFFECT OF MANURE AND FERTILIZER ON THE ENDOPHYTES ISOLATED FROM CURCUMA LONGA

Abstract

In the current scenario, chemical fertilizers are widely used to fuel plant growth. The use of chemical fertilisers affects the composition of the soil, its pH, salinity and the organic carbon content. This can be detrimental to the micro flora found in the soil, which can in turn affect the consistency of the soil and the number of endophytes that invade the plants and the plant health. The association of the endophytes with the plants allows them to cope with various functions, like plant growth promotion, yield enhancement and disease control, the microbes in turn receive shelter and nutrients from the host plants. The present study discusses the impact of chemical fertilizers and manures on the number of endophytes extracted from turmeric. The soil was divided into three sets. One set was treated with chemical fertilizer (NPK), one with manure and an untreated set of soil was used as control. The endophytes were isolated from the rhizomes and leaves of the plants grown in all the three sets and analyzed for the effect of the treatments on the bacteria isolated. The comparison showed that the number of endophytes were low in plants grown in soil treated with chemical fertilizers.