Viability of peat inoculum produced with associative bacteria and molybdenum

Abstract

Among the vehicles in use for diazotroph inoculation, peat is considered the most-widely used in Brazil. Peat makes possible the viability of a large number of cells, at the same time protecting them from adversities found in the soil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the viability of peat inoculum developed with diazotroph bacteria and molybdenum. The bacteria BR11417 (Herbaspirillum seropedicae) and BR11340 (Burkholderia sp.) were allowed to multiply for a period of 24 hours, and a sample of 10 ml with 108 cel. mL-1 was transferred to polypropylene bags containing 35 g of peat. Two dosages and two sources of molybdenum were then added: 1.12 and 2.25 g of sodium molybdate and ammonium molybdate respectively. Inoculum with no molybdenum was used as control. With law No. 86955, Brazilian legislation specifies that commercial inoculants based on nitrogen-fixing microorganisms have minimum concentrations of 108 viable cells per gram of product at the time of use, and that viability of the cells be maintained for a period of at least six months. This study showed that without the addition of molybdenum to the inoculum, bacteria survived with a viable-cell total of about 108 cells g-1 of inoculum for a period of up to 110 days. With the addition of molybdenum, the inoculum remained viable for a period of 180 days. The application of molybdenum contributes to the increased viability of peat inoculum produced with the bacterial strains BR11417 and BR11340.