article · Agronomy
Soil salinity presents a severe challenge to crop production by damaging plant growth and limiting yield. An investigation into mitigating these effects examined the use of beneficial soil bacteria and chitosan on sweet pepper plants exposed to different salt concentrations in pot trials. Saline conditions diminished chlorophyll levels, photosynthetic efficiency, relative water content, and fruit yield, whilst increasing cell membrane damage and oxidative stress indicators. Applying Bacillus thuringiensis as a seed treatment alongside foliar sprays of chitosan substantially counteracted these negative outcomes. The combined treatments boosted chlorophyll retention, improved water content, and regulated protective enzyme activities and proline accumulation. Furthermore, the interventions reduced oxidative stress markers and cell leakage, ultimately leading to higher fruit counts, greater fresh fruit weight, and enhanced overall harvest yield under saline growing conditions.
Salinity in agricultural soil severely threatens vegetable cultivation and food security worldwide. Demonstrating that biological seed treatments and natural biopolymer sprays can protect crops against salt damage provides practical options for sustaining harvest yields. Understanding how these treatments defend plant tissues offers valuable insight into helping sensitive crops endure challenging, salt-affected environments.
This research could inform the development of biostimulant formulations and seed-coating products for vegetable growers operating in saline areas. Potential users include agricultural input manufacturers, commercial nurseries, and horticultural producers seeking non-chemical stress mitigators. Because the findings derive from two years of controlled pot experiments on sweet pepper, the approach remains at an applied research stage and requires open-field validation before commercial deployment.
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Salinity stress deleteriously affects the growth and yield of many plants. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and chitosan both play an important role in combating salinity stress and improving plant growth under adverse environmental conditions. The present study aimed to evaluate the impacts of PGPR and chitosan on the growth of sweet pepper plant grown under different salinity regimes. For this purpose, two pot experiments were conducted in 2019 and 2020 to evaluate the role of PGPR (Bacillus thuringiensis MH161336 106–8 CFU/cm3) applied as seed treatment and foliar application of chitosan (30 mg dm−3) on sweet pepper plants (cv. Yolo Wonder) under two salinity concentrations (34 and 68 mM). Our findings revealed that, the chlorophyll fluorescence parameter (Fv/Fm ratio), chlorophyll a and b concentrations, relative water content (RWC), and fruit yield characters were negatively affected and significantly reduced under salinity conditions. The higher concentration was more harmful. Nevertheless, electrolyte leakage, lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and superoxide (O2−) significantly increased in stressed plants. However, the application of B. thuringiensis and chitosan led to improved plant growth and resulted in a significant increase in RWC, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence parameter (Fv/Fm ratio), and fruit yield. Conversely, lipid peroxidation, electrolyte leakage, O2−, and H2O2 were significantly reduced in stressed plants. Also, B. thuringiensis and chitosan application regulated the proline accumulation and enzyme activity, as well as increased the number of fruit plant−1, fruit fresh weight plant−1, and total fruit yield of sweet pepper grown under saline conditions.
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DOI: 10.3390/agronomy10081180
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