TY - JOUR AU - Mahato, Sanjay AU - Neupane, Srijana PY - 2018/01/05 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Comparative study of impact of Azotobacter and Trichoderma with other fertilizers on maize growth JF - Journal of Maize Research and Development JA - J. Maize Res. & Dev. VL - 3 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - 10.3126/jmrd.v3i1.18915 UR - https://nepjol.info/index.php/JMRD/article/view/18915 SP - 1-16 AB - <p>Biofertilizers may be a better eco-friendly option to maintain soil fertility. The study was conducted to investigate the effect of <em>Azotobacter</em> and <em>Trichoderma</em> on the vegetative growth of maize (<em>Zea mays </em>L.) plants. The experiment was carried out in medium sized pots, at IAAS, Lamjung (Feb 2017 - May 2017) in completely randomized design (CRD), consisting eight treatments and three replications. Treatments were namely T1 (control), T2 (<em>Azotobacter</em>), T3 (<em>Trichoderma</em>), T4 (<em>Azotobacter </em>+ <em>Trichoderma</em>), T5 (NPK), T6 (<em>Azotobacter </em>+ <em>Trichoderma </em>+ FYM), T7 (<em>Azotobacter </em>+ <em>Trichoderma </em>+ FYM + NPK), T8 (FYM). <em>Azotobacter</em> showed a positive increase in plant height, stem girth, dry shoot weight, root length and width, and root weight while <em>Trichoderma</em> displayed either negative or minimal impact. Effect of FYM was lower than <em>Azotobacter</em> but considerably higher than <em>Trichoderma</em>. <em>Trichoderma</em> seriously inhibited the expression of <em>Azotobacter</em> when used together. <em>Trichoderma</em> even suppressed the outcome (except shoot weight) of FYM when used together. Root length was the longest in <em>Azotobacter</em> inoculation. The highest number of leaves was in T7 followed by <em>Azotobacter</em> (T2) and NPK (T5). Unlike leaf width, <em>Azotobacter</em> showed a negligible increase in leaves length while <em>Trichoderma</em> wherever present showed the negative impact. Minimum chlorophyll content was found in <em>Azotobacter</em> or<em> Trichoderma</em> after 73 days. <em>Azotobacter</em> treatment showed early tasseling than <em>Trichoderma</em>. The association of <em>Azotobacter</em> and <em>Trichoderma</em> increased the biomass. <em>Azotobacter</em> has significant effects on growth parameters of maize and can supplement chemical fertilizer, while <em>Trichoderma</em> was found to inhibit most of the growth parameters.</p> ER -