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Inoculant Preparation and Formulations for Azospirillum spp.

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Book cover Handbook for Azospirillum

Abstract

In general, shortly after suspensions of Azospirillum spp. are inoculated into soil, seed surface, or root surfaces without a proper carrier, the bacteria population declines rapidly. This phenomenon, combined with poor production of bacterial biomass, makes difficult to sustain activity in the rhizosphere, and the physiological state of Azospirillum spp. at application time can prevent the buildup of a sufficiently large bacterial population in the rhizosphere. Consequently, a major role of formulation of inoculants is to provide a more suitable microenvironment, combined with physical protection for a prolonged period to prevent a rapid decline of introduced Azospirillum spp. Inoculants for field use have to be designed to provide a dependable source of bacteria that survives in the soil and become available to crops, when needed. This chapter provides technical details on production of several formulations proven useful for Azospirillum spp. from propagation of the bacterium in culture medium to final formulation for the field, and the industrial considerations involved in the entire process of inoculant production. These include: media for massive propagation, techniques for useful formulation, mode of application out of the laboratory setting, and industrial consideration regarding production of commercial inoculants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Microbiology Group, Northwestern Center for Biological Research (CIBNOR), Av. IPN 195, La Paz, Baja California Sur, 23096, Mexico

    Yoav Bashan & Luz E. de-Bashan

  2. The Bashan Foundation, 3740 NW Harrison Blvd, Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA

    Yoav Bashan & Luz E. de-Bashan

Authors
  1. Yoav Bashan
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  2. Luz E. de-Bashan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoav Bashan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal y de la Interacción Planta-Microorganismo, Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Rio Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina

    Fabricio Dario Cassán

  2. Faculty of Agricultue Food and Environme, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Central, Israel

    Yaacov Okon

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Balcarce, Argentina

    Cecilia M. Creus

Additional information

Dedication:

This review is dedicated to the memory of the Israeli soil microbiologist Prof. Yigal Henis (1926–2010) of the Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Rehovot, Israel, one of the pioneers of studies of inoculants in Israel.

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Bashan, Y., de-Bashan, L.E. (2015). Inoculant Preparation and Formulations for Azospirillum spp.. In: Cassán, F., Okon, Y., Creus, C. (eds) Handbook for Azospirillum. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06542-7_26

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