Isolation, Evaluation and Characterization of Free Living Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria from Agricultural Soils in Myanmar for Biofertilizer Formulation - Abstract
Three Azomonasagilis, two Azotobacter chroococcum and one Alcaligenes sp. were obtained for the best nitrogen fixing activity. These all strains showed nitrogen fixing activity from screening using Viscolor Alpha Ammonium Detection Kit. Estimated ammonia concentration was obviously higher than other isolates. These strains were selected and evaluated for other beneficial activities. The ability of these strains was that they could grow at 45ºC on nitrogen free glucose mineral media (NFGMM) but salt tolerance was low. Above 1% NaCl, they could not grow well on NFGMM. Besides nitrogen fixing activity, phosphate solubilizing activity was also detected. 11 ppm of soluble phosphate was given by A.chroococcum (Ey1) and it was the lowest concentration among all strains. A.agilis (M3) gave 20 ppm of soluble phosphate concentration, highest concentration. With the aim of biofertilizer formulation with effective nitrogen fixing bacteria for used in agricultural soils in Myanmar, these six nitrogen fixing bacteria were formulated as bioferilizer. After preparation of biofertilizer for one month, mineral contents of formulated biofertilizer were determined. Total nitrogen (1.49%), total phosphate (0.515) and total potassium (0.475) of formulated biofertilizer were detected. The mineral contents were higher than other fertilizers. Therefore, we postulate that biofertilizer formulated from the six nitrogen fixing bacteria may be effective for application in Myanmar’s agricultural soils.