EFFECT OF PHOSPHORUS SOLUBILIZING BACTERIAL INOCULATION AND PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZER APPLICATION ON FORAGE YIELD AND QUALITY OF OAT (Avena sativa L.).

Abstract

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is an important fodder crop. Phosphorus unavailability is one of the major limiting factors in getting its higher yield. Phosphorus availability can be enhanced with the application of phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and it may be helpful in increasing forage yield and improving quality of oat. Therefore, a field trial to evaluate the effect of phosphorus solubilizing bacterial inoculation and phosphorus application on forage yield and quality of oat was conducted at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. The phosphorus was applied at the rate of 0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha^-1 to oat crop raised from inoculated and uninoculated seed. The crop was sown on December 1^st, 2011 by using single row hand drill in 20 cm apart rows. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with factorial arrangement using three replications. The size of net plot was kept 1.8 m 6 m. Phosphorus application significantly affected the plant height, number of tiller m^-2, number of leaves tiller^-1, leaf area tiller^-1, leaf to stem ratio, green forage yield, dry matter yield, dry matter %, crude protein %, fat content, crude fiber % and ash % of oat. Phosphorus solubilizing bacterial inoculation also significantly affected all the recorded parameters of oat. The interaction between phosphorus application and phosphorus solubilizing bacterial inoculation was significant only for leaf area tiller