Vol. 11, Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
Sudhakar Soundarajan, R Marimuthu, K Arunkumar, K Dhanaphal, T Venkatesan and G Sivakumar

Abstract:
The non-infecting, plant associated bacteria have attracted increased attention for stimulating plant growth and as environmental friendly plant protecting agents in small cardamom. Pink-Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophic Bacteria (PPFM) (classified as methyl bacterium species) are persistent colonizers of plant leaf surface. As the leaves of most or all plants harbour PPFMs that utilize leaf methanol as their sole source of carbon and interacting partners in plant metabolism. Like little farmers, Methylotrophic bacteria play an important role in seedling establishment. They feed compounds (Cytokinin and Auxin) that stimulate plant growth. They protect their crop from pathogens and pests by induction of systemic resistance. PPFM is one such farmer and its relationship with plants illustrates many of these ideas. Krishi Vigyan Kendra has supported small cardamom farmers, by the following observations: (1) Foliar application of PPFMs to small cardamom during summer period which enhance the plant growth and increase yield, (2) Treated plants to decrease disease incidence of Fusarium disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum in small cardamom, (3) The PPFMs inoculation induced number of stomata, chlorophyll concentration and malic acid content and led to increased photosynthetic activity, (4) Screening of such kind of bacteria having immense plant growth promoting activities like nitrogen fixation, Phytohormone production, alleviating water stress to the plants can be successfully isolated and characterized and integration of such kind of organism in crop production will lead to 35% increased productivity in small cardamom plantation.