Harmonized tripartite Approach: Enhancing nutrient Accessibility, Uptake, and wheat productivity through Trichoderma harzianum, Compost, and phosphorus synergy

Abstract

Objectives: Microbes inoculated with organic and inorganic amendments influence the nutrient pool in soil. Herein, this study aimed to investigate the potential of a harmonized tripartite approach to improve nutrient accessibility, uptake, and wheat productivity in nutrient-deficient soil. Methods: The tripartite components consisted of Trichoderma harzianum (TRI), compost (Comp), and inorganic phosphorus (P) sources, including rock phosphate (RP) and single super phosphate (SSP). Under field conditions, the experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The main plot treatments consist of two compost application rates: 0 and 10 tons ha−1. Subplot treatments included the application of TRI and inorganic phosphorus sources at the rates of 5 and 90 kg ha−1 for RP and SSP, respectively. Results: The findings demonstrated that the harmonized tripartite treatments significantly regulated nutrient accessibility, uptake, and wheat productivity, with promising effects observed in combinations such as TRI + SSP + Comp and TRI + RP + Comp. TRI + RP + Comp positively influenced plant height, spike length, and biomass, while TRI + SSP + Comp led to increased grain yield (4325 ± 54 kg ha−1) compared to control (2765 ± 33 kg ha−1). Moreover, TRI + SSP + Comp significantly improved soil organic matter from 1.20 ± 0.03 % (control) to 2.28 ± 0.11 % and P concentration from 3.95 mg kg−1 to 13.60 ± 0.11 mg kg−1. Notably, TRI + Comp treatment maximized the accessibility of micronutrients, including copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and manganese (Mn), and showed the higher availability of iron (Fe) with a sole TRI application. Furthermore, TRI + RP + Comp significantly increased the uptake of P, Cu, Fe, Zn, and Mn by 510 %, 106 %, 111 %, 63 %, and 137 %, respectively. Multivariate and cluster analyses further confirmed the strong positive relationship among most variables, highlighting the efficacy of the harmonized treatments without any negative associations. Conclusion: These findings accentuated the potential of a harmonized tripartite approach to significantly improve soil fertility, nutrient uptake, and productivity in wheat crops under nutrient-deficient soil.

Keywords

• T. harzianum
• Phosphorous
• Micronutrients
• Multivariate analysis
• Wheat growth