Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(9): 2145-2152 2145 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.909.267 Plant Growth Promoting Potential and Biocontrol Efficiency of Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Pratibha Rawat, Deepti Shankhdhar and S. C. Shankhdhar * Department of Plant Physiology, College of Basic Sciences & Humanities, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Rice is a global food grain consumed by half of the world’s seven billion people. Almost 60% of rice is consumed by humans in Southeast Asia. Rice provides 15% per capita protein and 21% global human per capita energy (IRRI, 2006). With an approximate increase in world population from 6.2 billion in 2000 to 8.2 billion in 2030 global rice demand will rise to about 765 million tonnes (FAO, 2019). In India, total rice production in 2018 was estimated to be 99.24 million tonnes which was higher by 1.74 million tonnes than the last year’s production of 97.50 million tonnes (FAO, 2018). The world rice utilization is forecasted to outreach 510.0 million tonnes in 2020-21 which surpasses the global rice production by 1.6 percent (FAO, 2020). Therefore, for global food security there is an urgent need to augment the global rice production in a sustainable manner. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 9 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com To study the impact of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and phosphorus fertilizer rates on growth parameters and pest infestation in rice, a field experiment for two successive years (2018 and 2019) was laid out in split- plot design with nine treatments viz. uninoculated control with different phosphate fertilizer doses viz., 0%, 50%, 75%, and 100% recommended dose (T1), PSB1 (T2), PSB2 (T3) PSB3 (T4), PSB1 + PSB2 (T5), PSB1 + PSB3 (T6), PSB2 + PSB3 (T7), PSB1 + PSB2 + PSB3 (T8), and Standard PSB (T9). The results significantly validated positive correlation between PSB inoculation and the growth attributes such as stem weight, leaf weight, and productive tiller number per hill at flowering. Growth parameters enhanced significantly when treated with PSB and 50% fertilizer dose. Percentage of stem borer and leaf folder infestation in PSB treated plants blended with 50% phosphate fertilization reduced significantly compared to control plants for both the cropping years. It can be concluded from our study that optimum dose of phosphate fertilizer (50% recommended dose) in combination with PSB could be an effective strategy to promote rice growth and development in an ecofriendly and sustainable manner. Keywords Phosphorus, Phosphate solubilizing bacteria, Biocontrol, Growth Accepted: 17 August 2020 Available Online: 10 September 2020 Article Info