PLANTS GROWTH-PROMOTING BACTERIA IMPROVES FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY OF TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum)

ALMIRÓN, C. C; BADIN, E; CASET, M. L; ROMERO, A. M; LESPINARD, A; YARYURA, P. M.

Congreso; Reunion conjunta SAIB-SAMIGE 2020; 2020

Currently,the horticulture industry produces a growing demand for nutritious and organic food obtained in a sustainable way. However, this activity generates the highest use of agrochemicals per unit area of production. The use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is one of the strategies to reduce or gradually replace the use of agrochemicals leading to sustainable agriculture.Tomato(Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the most widespread fresh consumption vegetable in the world; therefore, it is essential to guarantee both yield and quality of this product. Theaim of this study, was evaluate the effect of the native PGPR on yield and nutritional quality of the tomato fruit. For this purpose, five rhizobacteria isolated from roots of tomato, TVMAP2 (Bacillus sp), TVM4 (Enterobactersp.), TVMYP6 (Bacillus sp.), TVMY10 (Paenibacillus sp.) y TVMY15(Bacillus sp.), which previously showed positive effect on plant growth at the vegetative stages of the crop, were evaluated. Experiments were conducted in individual 10 L pots with Grow Mix (Terrafertil) in greenhouse, under natural conditions (temperature approx. 18?28 °C and light approx. 14 h) used tomato cultivar Ichivan. Treatments with the rhizobacteriawere performed by irrigation, on the base of the stem, with 10 ml aliquots of individual rhizobacterial suspensions (108 CFU ml-1) after 6 days post-transplantand a second addition of rhizobacterial suspension (20 ml) was done after 15days post-transplant. Sterile water was used for the control treatment (C). Eight experimental units were used for each of the treatments evaluated and all received a recommend commercial fertilization dose, except one treatment (TVMAP250) with its respective control (C50), where was reduced to 50% of recommended dose of fertilizer. After 85 days of growth, the plants were harvested, yield and nutritional quality ofthe fruit, such as lycopene, vitamin C, total acidity, pH, among others weredetermined. Inoculationwith the strain TVMY15 showed significant increase of 10% on tomato yield with compareto the control (C). Moreover, when tomato plants were inoculated with TVMY10, we observed significant higher values of lycopene in fruits in comparison to the control (C). In addition, the inoculation with the strainTVMAP2 with the reduction of fertilizer to 50% (TVMAP2 50), produced higher yields in redfruits with respect to the C50 and also, fruits with higher concentrations of vitamin C in comparison with controls C50 and C. The results of this study show the potential of TVMY10 and TVMY15 to enhance theyield and quality of fruits, and in addition the use of TVMAP2 to improve tomato culture under nutritional stress conditions. Further studies under different field conditions and combined application of selected bacteria could be tested to maximise the beneficial plant growth response and reveal the potential of these isolates as biofertilizers agents.