Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.5
Top staple foods produced worldwide
Worldwide production (millions (10
6
) of metric tons)
2012
Grain
2011
2010
Maize (corn)
87
888
85
2
1
Wheat
671
699
650
Rice
720
725
703
Barley
133
133
124
Sorghum
57
58
60
Millet
30
27
33
Oats
21
22
20
Rye
15
13
12
Triticale
14
13
14
Buckwheat
2.3
2.3
1.4
Fonio
0.59
0.59
0.57
Quinoa
0.08
0.08
0.08
sustenance, while in developed nations, cereal consumption is moderate and varied
but still substantial.
8.4.2.1
Impact of Sole/Composite Application of PS Microbes on Cereal
Crops
The use of PSB in agricultural practices dates back to the 1950s when some Russian
and European scientists applied
Megatierium viphosphateum
, which later on was
identified as
Bacillus megatierium
var.
phosphaticum.
The preparation of this
bacterium was subsequently called as phosphobacterin (Cooper
1959
; Menkina
1963
) and, when this was used, increased crop yields from 0 to 70 % in Soviet
soils. However, similar experiments conducted in the United States failed to
produce any significant effect (Smith et al.
1961
). Despite conflicting reports on
the performance of PSB in variable agroecosystem against a multitude of crops
(Yarz´bal
2010
) including cereals (Yazdani et al.
2009
; Abdel-Ghany et al.
2010
;
Deshwal et al.
2011
; Khalimi et al.
2012
; Nico et al.
2012
), they have since been
applied and have shown promising results in some parts of the world (Chesti and
Ali
2007
; Baig et al.
2011
). For example, Saxena et al. (
2014
) investigated the
synergistic effect of an AM fungus,
Glomus etunicatum,
and an indigenous PSB
strain,
Burkholderia cepacia
BAM-6, on wheat plants grown in pots containing soil
with low available P in order to find a comparable paring of microbial cultures for
enhancing wheat production in semiarid regions.
The dual inoculation of AM fungus and PSB augmented growth and yield
parameters relative to the sole application of each culture. Wheat yield and N
concentration were enhanced by greater than 50 and 90 %, respectively, following
the dual inoculation. Percent root colonization by AM fungi and rhizosphere
population of PSB was also increased with time in soil. From this study, it was
