Influence of Biofertilizers on Germination and Early Seedling Growth of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. under Nursery Conditions

The effect of biofertilizer on seed germination and growth of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. under nursery conditions was evaluated during the 2023-24 at the College of Forestry, Sirsi, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. The experiment comprises seven treatments (control, Azotobacter, PSB, AM fungi, Azotobacter + PSB, PSB + AM fungi and Azotobacter + PSB + AM fungi) with three replications each. There was statistically significant improvements in all growth parameters with the use of biofertilizers over the control. Among all treatments, the combination of Azotobacter + PSB + AM fungi resulted in highest germination percentage (82.22%), maximum seedling height (33.50 cm at 90 days after sowing), highest number of leaves (5.70), maximum stem girth (1.12 cm), root length (17.1 cm), and the most vigorous seedlings as indicated by the seedling vigor index (4160.33). This treatment was significantly superior to the control which recorded the lowest performance across all parameters. Dual inoculation treatments (Azotobacter + PSB and PSB + AM fungi) also showed marked improvement compared to single inoculant applications (Azotobacter, PSB and AM fungi), highlighting the benefit of synergistic interactions among microbial species. The study concludes that the combined use of Azotobacter, PSB, and AM fungi significantly enhances seed germination and early seedling growth in jackfruit.