EFFECT OF PRE SOWING BIOFERTILIZER SEED TREATMENT ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL SEED QUALITY IN RICE ( ORYZA SATIVA L . )

Rice is the most important staple food in Asia. More than 90% of the world’s rice is grown and consumed in Asia, where 60% of the world’s population lives. Expanding the area under rice cultivation is not an option for increasing rice production in many areas due to the pressures of urbanization, industrialization, crop diversification and other economic factors. In the present study, seeds treated with various biofertilizers. The results of this study showed that seed treated with Azospirillum + Phosphobacteria + VAM @ 600g ha-1 recorded significantly higher values for germination percentage, speed of germination, root length, shoot length, seedling length, dry matter production, vigour index I and vigour index II under the laboratory condition over the control. Hence, it is concluded that triple inoculation of biofertilizers (Azospirillum + Phosphobacteria + VAM @ 600g ha-1) recommended for improved seed quality over single and dual inoculation.