Exploring the biochar as a suitable carrier for a bioinoculant Aspergillus niger K7 and its consequence on Eleusine coracana in field studies

Carriers are not only important in providing a protective niche for microbial inoculants but also act as delivery vehicles. In the present investigation, the aim is to study the suitability of biochar as a carrier for Aspergillus niger K7 as well as its impact on the growth and productivity of Eleusine coracana, if any. In this experiment, the spores of the K7 strain were used as bioinoculant with biochar as a carrier for growth studies of finger millet in the agriculture field. Soil and biochar were analyzed for their physiochemical properties. After that, inoculum preparation was done, and the inoculum was incubated for six months with biochar to examine the viability of K7 strain with biochar. At last, for field trials, the seeds were sown, the mixture was amended to the soil, and growth and yield parameters were measured at 60 and 130 days. The soil amended with K7 strain and biochar separately showed significant enhancement in the growth and yield of plants over control, but the combination of the fungal strain with biochar as a carrier gave the best results in our study. It can be inferred from the results that biochar can protect microbial inoculants, improve soil properties, and make nutrients available for plant growth.