Summary
This field trial investigated the capacity of Bacillus subtilis soil inoculant to enhance cotton performance under drought stress in an arid region. Application of 45 kg·ha⁻¹ Bacillus subtilis increased soil water retention, nitrogen use efficiency, plant growth metrics, photosynthetic efficiency, and yield by 8.94–9.28%, whilst improving water use efficiency by 5.49–19.22% under both conventional and deficit irrigation. The mechanism appeared to operate through altered rhizosphere microbial community structure and increased bacterial network complexity, which optimised water and nutrient availability for plant uptake.
UK applicability
While the study was conducted in an arid region of China under specific local conditions, the principles of microbial inoculant enhancement of drought resilience and water-use efficiency may have limited direct applicability to UK farming, where water stress is less chronic. However, findings could be relevant to UK regions experiencing increasing summer drought stress under climate change, particularly for cotton growing trials or analogous drought-sensitive crops in southern England.
Key measures
Soil water retention (%), nitrogen use efficiency (%), plant height (%), stem diameter (%), leaf area index (%), leaf internal water use efficiency (%), instantaneous water use efficiency (%), crop yield (%), water use efficiency (%), bacterial network complexity, microbial community composition
Outcomes reported
The study measured effects of Bacillus subtilis inoculation (0 and 45 kg·ha⁻¹) on cotton growth, physiological performance, yield, water use efficiency, and rhizosphere microbial community composition under conventional and deficit irrigation regimes. Key outcomes included soil water retention, nitrogen use efficiency, plant morphology, photosynthetic performance, yield, and microbial network complexity.
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