Pseudomonas fluorescens Rt6M10 and Azospirillum brasilense AZ39 inoculation increases yield and fruit quality of two tomato varieties for industry

LIPINSKI, V; BOTTINI, R; PONTIN, M; GARCÍA ESCOBAR, I; PÉREZ-RODRIGUEZ, M; ALANIZ, C; COHEN, A C

Foz do Iguaçu

Simposio; XVI Symposium on Biological Nitrogen Fixation with Non-Legumes, IV LatinAmerican Workshop of PGPR, XIX RELARE; 2018

http://www.mpcp2018.com.br/images/downloads/2018_ABSTRACT%20BOOK_PGPR%202018_FINAL_1.pdf

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, L) is one of the most important and widely distributed horticultural vegetable crops in the world. During 2016 and 2017 season Argentina reached the historical record of 77 ton ha -1. Mendoza is one of the major industry tomato producers, but the internal market demand of the country is still unsatisfied.Fertirrigation is necessary for the crop development, however, overuse of fertilizers cause environmental problems. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of tomato root inoculation with P. fluorescens Rt6M10 and A. brasilense Az39 on yield and fruit quality of two varieties of industrial tomato in a field trial. Uco 14 and Harris Moran 3861 were the selected tomato varieties. Seedlings with two fully expanded true leaves were bacterized and the treatments were: 1) Rt6M10, 2) Az39, 3) consortium (Rt6M10+ Az39), 4) fertilized, 5) control (without bacteria). Forty days old plants weretransplanted to the field and drip irrigated. Ninety days after transplant, steam diameter, photochemical efficiency of photosystem II and chlorophyll relative amount were evaluated. The yield, size and quality of the fruit were also evaluated at the time of harvest. Inoculation increased the stem diameter, the number and fresh weight of fruits per plant; as well as the equatorial and polar fruit diameter in both varieties. Also, inoculation increased pH and decreased titulable acidity in both varieties. However, only the soluble solids of Uco 14 fruits were increased with the inoculations. The results of the work suggest that Rt6M10 or Az39 inoculation could be useful to reduce the useof chemical fertilizer, maintaining and even improving the industrial tomato yield and quality. This can lead to economic and environmental benefits in a sustainable agriculture.