POTASSIUM SOLUBILIZING ACTINOMYCETES: A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH FOR POTASSIUM MINERAL DEFICIENCY IN SOIL

Abstract

Plants need nutritional elements for their better growth and development. Some of these elements are considered essentials, such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).These nutrients can be found in the soil as a result of the breakdown of vegetable or animal organic matter, or by the application of mineral fertilizers. Insufficient replacement of these nutrients in the soil can result in nutritional depletion, poor growth and crop yield decline. Therefore, the nutritional status of plants depends mainly on the availability of nutrients in the soil where they are cultivated. Soils with adequate mineral composition will provide the necessary elements for greater productivity and, as a result, foods of higher nutritional quality. The potassium solubilizing actinomycetes, KSAs are most important microorganisms for solubilizing fixed form of K in soil system. According to the literature, currently negligible use of potassium fertilizer as chemical form has been recorded in agriculture for enhancing crop yield. Most of the farmers use only nitrogen and phosphorus and not the K fertilizer due to unawareness that the problem of K deficiency occurs in rhizosphere soils.