Improving the availability of soil phosphate by phosphate liberation bacteria

In Shanxi Province, the majority soil is calcareous. And available phosphate content is less in soil. Phosphate fertilizer applied to soil is fixed by soil and cannot be used by plant. In order to increase phosphorus availability, B2 and B67 phosphate liberation bacteria have been successfully isolated to enhance phosphate availability. Culture medium in which tricalcium phosphate was the only phosphorus source, was inoculated with bacteria B2 and B67, soluble phosphorus contents the cultured media with B2 and B67 were 12.92 and 9.18 times higher than that found in control, respectively. When bacteria B2 and B67 were incubated to Shanxi typical soil types, available phosphorus was enhanced and was roughly 1.35～3.04 times higher than that in control soil sample. Phosphate liberation effectiveness was related to solution pH value. Also it was found that phosphate lyolysis was positively related to available number of bacteria and phosphatase activity in soil. Phosphate liberation bacteria could improve both available phosphorus and available potassium in soil. Both field and pot trials demonstrated that phosphate liberation bacteria can increase yield and soil fertility.