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V. SRINIVAS, A. SRAVANI, S. PRATYUSHA AND S. GOPALAKRISHNAN*
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru 502 324, Telangana.
Biological degradation and conversion of agricultural or herbal wastes by earthworms and microorganisms, called
vermicomposting, is becoming a favored method of recycling biodegradable wastes. Application of vermicompost prepared from the herbals not only benefits crop plants, as it contains beneficial microorganisms, that help the plants to mobilize and acquire nutrients, but also promotes plant growth and inhibits phytopathogens. The use of plant growth-promoting (PGP) microorganisms for sustainable agriculture has increased tremendously in many parts of the world as it is widely reported to enhance the plant growth and yield of agriculturally important crops. PGP microorganisms facilitate the plant growth either by direct means (such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, iron chelation and phytohormones production) or by indirect means such as inhibition of phytopathogens. Actinobacteria are gram positive filamentous bacteria that are known to produce antibiotics effective against fungal plant pathogens and possess PGP traits. This article gives an outline of how actinobacteria isolated from such herbal vermicompost at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) were exploited for crop production and crop protection.
Actinobacteria, PGP microorganisms, vermicompost