Assessing Maize Growth and Physiological Indices under Combined and Individual Influence of Bacillus sp. MN-54 and Organic Amendments

Use of organic amendments along with biofertilizers are becoming popular day by day for agricultural sustainability and gives hope for a gradual shift from synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemical amendments towards organic and sustainable practices. This experiment was carried for the investigation of biochar, cattle manure, and Bacillus sp. MN-54 application on the chemical composition, physiology, and growth parameters of maize plants individually and coupled with each other. Treatment results were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05. Cattle manure having low pH combined with Bacillus sp. MN-54 treatment significantly improved the transpiration rate, water use efficiency, Relative water content, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, plant height and stomatal conductance (P ≤ 0.05). The electrolyte leakage was decreased by 58.13% whereas the root growth increased by 116.65% over non-treated plants, when low pH cattle manure was supplemented with Bacillus sp. MN-54. Overall, the Bacillus sp. MN-54 showed compatibility with the maize variety Gauher-19 and showed significantly positive results when applied with low pH cattle manure, proving its future application in the sustainability of agriculture.