Field inoculation of rice with in vitro selected plant-growth promoting-rhizobacteria

In a previous study of two Egyptian soils a great diversity of N 2 -fixing bacteria was found in the dominant microflora of the rhizosphere of rice. Under gnotobiotic conditions, strain NO40 of Azospirillum brasilense was more efficient than most isolates. NO40 was used under field conditions in 2 locations in the Nile delta for inoculating rice at sowing and at transplanting. In both locations, inoculation significantly increased yield (0.01