Beneficial microorganisms isolated from vegetable compost

M. Stella and M. Sashikala

Abstract
Microorganisms that attributed beneficial traits for agriculture use were identified from four piles of vegetable compost and rice husk subjected to different composting methods. A total of 172 bacterial isolates and 25 fungal isolates were isolated from the composts. Out of 125 isolates, seven exhibited multiple beneficial traits including nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilisation, potassium solubilisation, silicate solubilisation, siderophore production, chitinase production, indole acetic acid production. The isolates were identified as Serratia marcescens, Bacillus subtilis (two isolates), Klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii and Bacillus licheniformis. A total of six beneficial bacteria were isolated from aerated compost and only one was isolated from non-aerated compost. There were no differences in the number of beneficial bacterial isolation from compost piles that used ground and non-ground rice husk as raw material. Aerated compost piles contained higher microbial population compared to the non-aerated compost piles.

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