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Effect of Suspending Agent and Temperature on Survival of Rhizobium in Fertilizer¹

ABSTRACT

The lack of compatibility between legume inoculants and fertilizers has been widely recognized and reported. Studies involving alternative inoculant carriers and methods of inoculant preparation led to an examination of rhizobia incorporation in fertilizer. The effects of suspending agent and incubation temperature on the survival of two strains of Rhizobium in 0-9-12 fertilizer were determined using plate counts and most-probable-number methods of analyses. Results showed that oil was superior to water in maintaining the viability and effectiveness of two strains of lyophilized rhizobia. A fertilizer incorporated with lyophilized R. phaseoli suspended in oil contained nearly 10⁴ viable cells per gram after 24 weeks of incubation at 65°C. In contrast, no R. phaseoli were recovered from a fertilizer containing a water suspension of lyophilized cells after 8 weeks of incubation at 25°C. These results strongly suggest that fertilizer and lyophilized rhizobia may be combined to form an effective inoculant if adequate precautions are taken to protect the rhizobia from rehydration.

¹ Authorized as Paper no. 4,296 in the Journal Series of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. This research was conducted under project AG/TAB 610-9-76 and partially supported by USDA/SEA/CR/USAID Competitive Grant 616-15-188.

² Research Associate, Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State; Chemical Engineer, International Fertilizer Development Center, Muscle Shoals, Ala.; and Associate Professor of Agronomy, Mississippi State Univ.

Received for publication February 9, 1981. Accepted for publication January 11, 1982.