Abstract
Banana requires large amounts of chemical fertilizers which are costly and can be hazardous to the environments when
are used excessively. Biological N2 fixation (BNF) technology can play a vital role as substitution to commercially
available N-fertilizer in crop production and reduction of environmental problem to some extent. An experiment was
conducted in the shade-house of University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia under hydroponics condition using nitrogen-free
plant nutrient solution to evaluate the effect of PGPR (Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacterial) inoculation on growth
and N2 fixation of tissue-cultured banana plantlets under nitrogen (N) free hydroponics condition. The experiment was a
completely randomized design with six replicates. There were three treatments viz. T1: (control; N0 -PGPR), T2: (N0 +
Sp7) and T3: (N0 + UPMB10). One tissue-cultured banana plantlet (ex-laboratory, about 10-11 cm height of three-leafed
stage) cv. ‘Berangan’ (Musa spp. dessert type) was planted per pot (4.0 L). The results indicated that a remarkable
increase in root growth, namely length (33-44%), volume (76-168%) and mass (137-141%) were recorded due to the PGPR
inoculation, beside a higher shoot growth (123-202%) and N yield (94-144%). The inoculated plants showed higher
formation of root hair which was visible within 7 days of inoculation. The growth attributes namely, leaf area, chlorophyll
content, and consequently the total biomass were also increased due to PGPR inoculation. The overall growth performance
of inoculated seedlings was higher in compare to un-inoculated control. Thus, it might be concluded that PGPR strains Sp7
and UPMB10 could be used as crop-enhancer and bio-fertilizer for vigor seedling and production of bananas.