EFFECT OF CHLORELLA AS A BIOFERTILIZER ON GERMINATION OF WHEAT AND BARLEY GRAINS

Abstract

Most of the agriculture sectors have been dependent heavily on inorganic chemical-based fertilizers, which are harmful for both human health and environment. The utilization of beneficial microbes as a biofertilizer has become major concern in industrial agriculture for their potential role in food safety and sustainable crop production. In this study, we examined the effect of Chlorella on germination of barley and wheat grains. Seeds were germinated in culture medium containing microalga (Chlorella sp. 56) and grown for 3, 6, 9 and 12 days in order to study its effect on growth parameters. In conclusion, Chlorella suspension increased the seed growth compared to those of control (sterilized culture medium) of seed germination. The best treatments were 0.06 g/L and 0.23 g/L of algal suspension for the root and shoot lengths of barley and wheat seeds, respectively.

Keywords

• Chlorella
• biofertilizer
• germination
• barley and wheat grains