Title: The use of yogurt bacteria in increasing the growth performance of diseased paddy

Authors: Nadia Binti Salim; Siti Sarah Jumali

Addresses: Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology, UiTM (Malacca) Jasin Campus, 77300 Merlimau, Malacca, Malaysia ' Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology, UiTM (Malacca) Jasin Campus, 77300 Merlimau, Malacca, Malaysia

Abstract: There is no report on the use of the yogurt bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus as a plant growth promoter, especially in increasing the growth performance of paddy. Lactobacillus bulgaricus is a widely used lactic acid bacterium in making yogurt for commercial consumption due to its probiotic properties. Some Lactobacillus spp such as Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum are used in effective microorganisms in fertilisers to promote better growth performance in plants while reducing bacterial infection. With this background, in this study, the effects of L. bulgaricus isolated from yakult on the growth performance of bacterial leaf blight (BLB) diseased paddy were investigated. The applications used on the bacterial leaf blight (BLB) to the diseased paddy were 10³ cfu (Treatment 1), 10⁴ cfu (Treatment 2), 10⁵ cfu (Treatment 3) and 10⁶ cfu (Treatment 4). According to the t-test performed, it is established that L. bulgaricus imposes a significant increase in plant height and reducing chlorophyll content while insignificant in reducing leaf infection. This study widens the scope of study of yogurt bacteria on diseased paddy to find further causes of chlorophyll content in promoting the growth of paddy.

Keywords: Lactobacillus bulgaricus; bacterial leaf blight; BLB; growth performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2020.109045

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2020 Vol.16 No.2, pp.101 - 109

Received: 28 Mar 2019
Accepted: 23 Oct 2019
Published online: 17 Aug 2020 *

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