Improvement of Growth, Yield, and Pigmentation of Mung Bean Plants UsingOchrobactrum intermediumCP‐2 as Bioinoculant

The selection of strains for production of biofertilizers is of primary importance. A strain with diverse growth promoting activities, especially the nitrogen fixation and phosphate solubilization, has highest preference over those with just one activity. In the present study, a symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacterium was isolated from the root nodules of chickpea and characterized asOchrobactrum intermediumCP‐2 on the basis of biochemical tests and partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and blast analysis. Besides fixing nitrogen, the CP‐2 strain also showed the ability of phosphate solubilization and indole acetic acid production. It was also found positive for ammonia and siderophore production. A significant increase in the lengths of radical and plumule and percent germination was observed when the rhizobacterial strain selected for the study was inoculated in vitro for seed assay.O. intermediumCP‐2 significantly (p < 0.05) increased shoot and root lengths, fresh and dry weights, and yield of mung bean plants both in pot trials and under field conditions. The nutrient uptake and microbial count also increased significantly with inoculation of the strain during the experiment. This study revealed the positive effect ofO. intermediumCP‐2 on mung bean crop.