Soil metagenomic study after kappaphycus alvarezii seaweed application under drought

Seaweed extracts are potent plant biostimulants capable of not only enhancing crop productivity but also imparting stress tolerance. However, no study reported changes in the bacterial abundance and diversity in soil due to spray drift during their foliar application to plants under drought stress, which formed the basis of this study. Thus, an experiment was conducted with five treatments wherein maize plants were subjected to soil moisture stress once (V5) or thrice (V5,10,15) at its critical growth stages to study the effect of Kappaphycus alvarezii seaweed extract (KSWE) on drought alleviation as well as its effect on soil bacteria along with suitable controls.