Isolation of potash mobilizing microorganisms in tea soil and evaluation of their efficiency in potash nutrition in tea: a novel approach

Potassium (K) availability is a major problem in tea growing soils of Assam, North-east India. The present
investigation aims at the isolation of potash mobilizing microorganisms in the tea soil and evaluation of their
potential in increasing available potash under in vitro. Ten numbers of potash mobilizing bacteria (KMB) were
isolated from the experimental tea estate of Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI), using a serial dilution plate
method on modified GYCaA media. The isolates were characterized based on their cultural and morphological
characteristics. On screening the isolates, it was found that TKMB11 was significantly superior in mobilizing
soil K; followed by TKMB6, TKMB3 and TKMB8 in same order in efficiency. The present investigation indicates
that the application of KMB might serve as a cost-effective and alternate viable technology to mobilize insoluble
K-source in tea soil for sustainable crop improvement.

印度东北部阿萨姆邦的茶树种植土壤中，钾（Potassium, K）有效性问题已成为制约生产的关键因素之一。本研究旨在从该类茶园土壤中分离解钾微生物，并评估其在体外条件下提升土壤有效钾含量的潜力。研究采用改良GYCaA培养基，通过稀释涂布平板法，从托克莱茶叶研究所（Tocklai Tea Research Institute, TTRI）的试验茶园中分离得到10株解钾细菌（potash mobilizing bacteria, KMB）。对上述分离菌株的培养特征与形态学特征进行了系统表征。经筛选实验发现，TKMB11在活化土壤钾方面表现出显著最优的效果，其解钾效率依次优于TKMB6、TKMB3与TKMB8。本研究结果表明，施加解钾细菌可作为一种经济高效且可行的替代技术，用于活化茶树土壤中的难溶性钾源，助力实现作物的可持续生产与品质改良。