Effect of Biofertilizer and Phosphorus on growth and yield of Green gram (Vigna radiata L.)

Introduction

Green gram (Vigna radiata L.) is an important pulse crop of India and central Asia which is known as the "poor man's meat" because of its richness in protein. In India, green gram can be sown during the kharif and zaid season. Green gram locally known as "moong dal". In India, it occupied an area of 3.44 million hectares having total production of 1.4 million tons of grain with productivity of 407 kg/ha) with an annual yield of 3.65 tonnes and a yield of 898 kg ha -1 . In India, major green gram producing states are Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar The protein content of green gram is two to three times more than that of cereals. It is considered as a whole grains a well as dal in variety of way in homes; being easily digestible it is preferred by patients. When moong beans are allowed to sprout, ascorbic acid (Vitamin 'C') is synthesized besides riboflavin and thiamine is also increased. In India, Green gram occupies an area of about 34.3 lakh hectare producing 14 lakh 2 tonnes whereas in Uttar Pradesh it is grown over lakhs hectare Rao et al. (2021) [1] . Green gram is the third important pulse crop cultivated through India. Pulses form an integral part of vegetarian diet of large population of India. Besides being rich source of proteins and amino acids, they maintain soil fertility through the process of nitrogen fixation in symbiotic association with Rhizobium bacteria present in their nodules. Thus, they play a vital role as nitrogen fixing manufactories, which help in sustain productivity of agricultural soil (Jat et al. 2012). Green gram (Vigna radiata L.) occupies prime position among pulses by virtue of its short growth period, high tonnage capacity and outstanding nutrient value as food, feed and forage. Among the pulses, greengram is one of the most important and extensively cultivated pulse crops Patel et al. (2019) [2] . Biofertilizers contains microorganisms which promote the adequate supply of nutrients to the host plants to ensure their proper development of growth and regulation in their physiology. Living microorganisms are used in the preparation of biofertilizers (Mishra et al., 2013) [3] . Shelf life is the first and foremost problem of the carrier based biofertilizer which is up to 3 months and it does not retain throughout the crop cycle. LBF on the other hand facilities the long survival of the organisms by providing the suitable medium which is sufficient for the entire crop cycle. Shravani et al. (2019) [4] Biofertilizers on the other hand are cost-effective and renewable source of plant nutrients to supplement the parts of chemical fertilizers. Biofertilizers are known to play an important role in increasing availability of nitrogen and phosphorus besides improving biological fixation of atmospheric nitrogen and enhance phosphorus availability to crop. Dual inoculation of vermi compost and bacteria biofertilizers proved more effective in increasing the growth of different crop plants. Dubey et al. (2019) [5] VAM fungi are one of the important components of the soil micro biota and obviously interact with other microorganisms in the rhizosphere. The effect of VAM on the growth of transplanted chillies under field conditions and found a significant increase in the plant growth due to mycorrhizal inoculation. VAM cause greater uptake of P by their expanded network of hyphae and also help in the uptake of Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, etc. VAM fungal hyphae play an important role in soil aggregation by creating the skeletal structure of macro aggregates through physical entanglement of soil particles and organic materials. Such aggregates enhance carbon and nutrients storage and create conducive environment for the survival and growth of soil microorganisms. Dubey et al.(2019) [5] VAM fungi are particularly important in organic and/or sustainable farming systems that rely on biological processes rather than agrochemicals to control plant diseases. Dubey et al.(2019) [5] Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) are a group of beneficial bacteria capable of hydrolyzing insoluble compounds of organic and inorganic phosphorus. Many heterotrophic bacteria and fungi efficiently solubilize insoluble phosphate of soil and rock phosphate. Inoculation of phosphate solubilizing microorganism increase crop yield by 5-10 per cent. Since the process of nodulation and nitrogen fixation is inhibited at higher levels of fertilizer nitrogen in the soil but there is a demand of nitrogen of the crop at post flowering period Rao et al. (2021) [1] PSB in agricultural practice would not only offset the high cost of manufacturing phosphate fertilizers but would also mobilize insoluble in the fertilizers and soils to which they are applied. Among the whole microbial population in soil. Megha Dubey et al.(2019) [5] The seed inoculation with proper strain of phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) is a low cost input for enhancing yield, as it solubilizes the unavailable phosphorus in to the available form, which reduce the high cost of inorganic phosphorus fertilizer (Patel et al., 2018) [6] . Phosphorus (P) is one of the most needed elements for pulse production. Phosphorus, although not required in large quantities, is critical to green gram yield because of its multiple effects on nutrition. Phosphorus plays a key role in various physiological processes like root growth and dry matter production, nodulation and nitrogen fixation and also in metabolic activities especially in protein synthesis. Patel BN et al. (2019) [2] The availability of phosphorus to the crop can be augmented by providing appropriate strains of microbes which are known to solubilise the fixed phosphorus and mobilize the deeply placed phosphorus to root zone by their activity. Besides increasing the availability of native P in the soil also help in enhancing the use efficiency of applied phosphorus Patel BN et al. (2019) [2] .

Materials and Methods

This experiment was carried out during kharif 2025 at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Prayagraj, (U.P), to check the effect of biofertilizer and phosphorus on growth and yield of Greengram. The experimental field soil was sandy loam with less availability of nitrogen. The experiment was laid out in randomised block design consisting of ten treatments viz T₁ VAM 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha, T₂ PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha, T₃ VAM 25 g/kg + PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha, T4 VAM 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha, T₅ PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha, T₆ VAM 25 g/kg + PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha, T₇ VAM 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha, T₈ PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha, T9 VAM 25 g/kg + PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha, T₁₀ N-P-K (20-40-20 kg/ha). Which were replicated thrice. 15 kg/ha seed of Green gram variety Samrat the spacing adopted was plant to plant 10 cm and row to 30 cm according to the treatment details and the seeds were drilled at 2-3 cm depth in the net plot area 3m x 3m on 22 July 2025. VAM and PSB was applied to all of the plots as per the treatments through seed treatment application and Phosphorus was applied to all the plots as per soil treatment application. The observation on growth parameters i.e. Plant height (cm), Plant dry weight (g), Crop growth rate (g / m² / day) and relative growth rate (g/g/day), No. of Branches/ plant No. of nodules/plant were recorded whereas yield attributing parameters i.e. Number of pods/plant(no.), Number seeds/pod, Test Weight(g), Seed yield (kg/ha), Stover yield (kg/ha), and Harvest Index (%) from the net plot area these observation were recorded. The recorded data were analysed statistically by ANOVA technique.

Results and Discussion

Growth parameters Plant Height

At 60 DAS, maximum plant height (68.43 cm) was observed in treatment T₃ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha). Which was statistically at par with treatment T₂ (PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha). The increased plant height may be attributed to improved phosphorus availability and nutrient uptake through the combined action of VAM and PSB". Similar findings were reported by Singh et al. (2024) [7] and Rekha et al. (2016) [8] .

Plant dry weight

At 60 DAS, highest plant dry weight (7.73g/plant) was observed in treatment T₉ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha). Which was statistically at par with treatment T₇ (VAM 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha) and treatment T₆ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha). The increased dry matter accumulation under this treatment may be attributed to improved phosphorus availability, enhanced nutrient uptake and better root development through the combined action of VAM and PSB. Similar findings were reported by Singh et al. (2024) [7] , Kumari et al. (2025) [9] and Rekha et al. (2016) [8] , who observed improved growth and dry matter production in green gram with the combined application of biofertilizers and phosphorus.

Crop Growth Rate (g/m2/day) At 45-60 DAS, highest crop growth rate (0.875 g/m /day) was observed in treatment T₁₀ (Control (RDF) 20:40:20 NPK kg/ ha) and lowest crop growth rate (0.512g / m² / day) was obtained in treatment T₁ (VAM25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha).

Relative Growth Rate (g/g/day) At 45-60 DAS, highest relative growth rate (0.637 g/g/day) was observed in treatment T₅ (PSB 25 g/kg Seed + 50 kg/ha Phosphorus) and lowest relative growth rate (0.343 g/g/day) was obtained in treatment T₁ (VAM25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha). There was no significant difference among all the treatment combinations. The improvement in growth may be attributed to enhanced phosphorus availability, better root development and increased nutrient uptake through the synergistic action of VAM and PSB. Similar findings were reported by Singh et al. (2024) [7] , Kumari et al. (2025) [9] , Rekha et al. (2016) [8] and Sai Teja et al. (2023) [10] .

Branches of Green gram

At 60 DAS, highest plant branches (14.86/plant) was observed in treatment T₆ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha). Which was statistically at par with treatment T₂ (PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha) and treatment T₁ (VAM25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ha). The increase in branching may be attributed to enhanced phosphorus availability and improved nutrient uptake due to PSB inoculation. Similar findings were reported by Singh et al. (2024) [7] , Kumari et al. (2025) [9] and Rekha et al. (2016) [8] .

Nodules of Green gram

At 60 DAS, highest nodules (16.53/plant) was observed in treatment T₄ (VAM25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha). Which was statistically at par with treatment T₅ (PSB 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha) and treatment T₆ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha). The number of nodules in green gram increased numerically due to the application of biofertilizers and phosphorus. The increase may be attributed to enhanced root growth, improved phosphorus availability and increased activity of beneficial microorganisms, which promoted biological nitrogen fixation and nodulation. [11] and Teja et al. (2023) [10] . However, the differences among treatments were statistically nonsignificant.

Yield parameters Number of Pods/Plant

Number of pods/plant recorded at harvest stage, The data shown that The number of pods per plant was not significantly influenced by different biofertilizer and phosphorus treatments. Numerically, the highest number of pods per plant (19.13) was recorded under T₁ (VAM 25 g/ kg seed + Phosphorus 40 kg/ ha), which was at par with all other treatments due to non-significant variation among treatments. The lowest number of pods per plant (16.60) was observed under T₁₀ (Control RDF 20:40:20 NPK kg ha ¹). ⁻

The increase in pod formation under biofertilizer inoculation may be attributed to improved nutrient availability, enhanced root development and increased biological nitrogen fixation. Similar findings were reported by Kumar et al. and Patel et al., who observed increased pod production in mung bean due to the combined application of biofertilizers and phosphorus.

Number of Seeds/Pod

Number of seeds/pod recorded at harvest stage, The data shown that The number of seeds per pod did not differ significantly among treatments. The maximum number of seeds per pod (8.26) was recorded under T₇ (VAM 25 g /kg seed + phosphorus 60 kg ha ¹), which remained statistically at par with all other ⁻ treatments. The minimum number of seeds per pod (5.86) was observed under T₄ (VAM 25 g /kg seed + phosphorus 50 kg/ ha). However, treatment T₉ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha) was found to be statistically at par with treatment T₇. Improved phosphorus nutrition and beneficial microbial activity might have contributed to better reproductive development and seed setting. Similar results were reported by Meena and Singh and Yadav et al. [12] .

The significant maximum Test weight (32.64g) was observed in (T₄) (VAM 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha). compared to the control (28.40g). While lowest test weight was observed in treatment T10 (N-P-K 20-40-20 kg/ha (control). The improvement in test weight may be attributed to enhanced phosphorus uptake and efficient translocation of photosynthates to developing seeds. Similar observations were reported by Singh et al. and Kumawat et al.

Seed yield did not differ significantly among treatments; however, the highest seed yield (1613.33 kg/ ha) was recorded under T₇ (VAM 25 g/ kg seed + phosphorus 60 kg /ha), while the lowest seed yield (1476.67 kg/ ha) was observed under T₅. The higher seed yield may be attributed to better nutrient availability, enhanced nodulation and improved photosynthetic activity under biofertilizer inoculation coupled with phosphorus application. Similar findings were reported by Rathore et al. and Jat et al.

Maximum stover yield (750.000 kg/ha) was observed in treatment T₉ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha). whereas the lowest value (423.333 kg/ha) was observed under T₄. Enhanced vegetative growth resulting from improved nutrient uptake and microbial activity might have contributed to higher biomass production. Similar results were reported by Verma et al. and Choudhary et al.

Maximum harvest index (78.67%) was recorded in treatment T₄ (VAM 25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 50 kg/ha) whereas, minimum harvest index (68.02%) was recorded in treatment T₉ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB25 g/kg Seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha), respectively. The higher harvest index indicates efficient partitioning of assimilates towards economic yield. Similar observations were reported by Sharma et al. and Khandelwal et al.

Conclusion

The present investigation demonstrated that the integration of phosphorus with biofertilizers showed several growth, yield attributes, productivity, and economic parameters of greengram, although most differences among treatments were statistically non-significant. Phosphorus supplementation improved nutrient availability and uptake, while biofertilizers such as VAM and PSB contributed to better root development and nutrient acquisition. Among the treatments, T₇ (VAM 25 g/kg seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha) recorded the highest seed yield and the maximum gross return, net return, and benefit-cost ratio, whereas T₉ (VAM 25 g/kg + PSB 25 g/kg seed + Phosphorus 60 kg/ha) recorded the highest stover yield. Thus, the integration of phosphorus with biofertilizers showed potential for improving productivity and profitability of greengram and may be considered a sustainable and economically viable practice for greengram cultivation during the Kharif season.

Competing Interests

Authors have declared that no competing interest exist.

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