Isolation and Characterization of Phosphate Solubilizing Micro-Flora from Saffron Rhizosphere of Northwest Himalaya, India

Abstract

Saffron, a spice derived from the Crocus sativus flowers is used as a coloring agent along with its medicinal application. Pampore area in Kashmir valley is famous for saffron cultivation and is one of the major saffron cultivation areas in the world. In the present study we aimed to isolate and characterize the phosphate solubilizing micro-flora from saffron soils of Pampore (9 sites were selected). The site selection was done based on the slope and altitude of the study region i.e. elevated (location with higher altitude but lower slope), sloppy (location with median altitude than elevated and plains but higher slope) and plain (location with lower altitude and lower slope. Four types of arbuscular mycorrhizae were isolated from the soils of saffron fields by Gerdemann & Nicolson technique. The genera isolated were identified as Glomus, Acaulospora, Scutellospora and Gigaspora. Glomus and Acaulospora were pre-dominant. The highest spore population was found in summer (11.3/g soil) as compared to winter due to the congenial temperature in summer. Root colonization was more (79.9 %) in less phosphorus containing soils. The phosphatase activity was high in summer (37 µgp-NP/g/ha) than winter and maximum values were found in sloppy areas ascertained to minimum phosphorus in these soils. The phosphorus solubilizing bacteria was maximum in summer (18.5 × 105 CFU/g) than in winter and the maximum values were found in plain soils exhibiting the presence of more arbuscular mycorrhizae. The present study concludes that VAM species can act as good bio-fertilizers in order to improve the production of Saffron in Kashmir Valley by demanding more attention to the microbial population of saffron soils and without the use of chemical fertilizers which pollute our soil as well as our environment.