article · New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science
Phosphate extraction generates phosphate sludge as a byproduct, while drought poses a severe challenge to crop yields in arid and semiarid regions. Researchers tested a bioformulated consortium of six plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to assess whether it could improve the resilience of chia plants grown in soil amended with five percent phosphate sludge. The trial was conducted in pots under semicontrolled greenhouse conditions, subjecting seedlings to severe drought stress for 30 days. Inoculation with the bacterial consortium significantly improved plant performance compared to uninoculated controls. Treated seedlings showed increases of 32.7 percent in shoot length, 56.9 percent in leaf number, and 31.0 percent in internode distance. In addition, soil bioavailable phosphorus rose by nearly twentyfold, chlorophyll levels increased, and osmotic stress markers dropped, demonstrating enhanced nutrient mobilisation and stress tolerance.
Water scarcity and soil nutrient depletion threaten global food production. Finding ways to recycle industrial mining byproducts, such as phosphate sludge, while boosting crop survival under drought offers a dual benefit. It provides a circular economy solution for waste management and delivers a biological approach to maintain agricultural productivity in water-stressed environments.
This work demonstrates potential for developing biofertilisers that combine beneficial bacteria with industrial phosphate sludge to support agriculture in arid regions. The primary users would be fertiliser manufacturers, agricultural input suppliers, and farmers growing chia or similar crops in water-limited soils. The research is currently at an applied, early experimental stage, having been validated in pot trials under semicontrolled greenhouse conditions rather than open-field environments.
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Valorizing bacterial biomass and phosphate sludge derived from phosphate extraction byproducts supports the circular economy and provides a sustainable strategy for mitigating the growing impact of drought stress, a major constraint on crop productivity under climate change. The present study aimed to assess the potential of a bioformulated consortium of six PGPR to improve drought tolerance in chia ( Salvia hispanica L.) grown in pots containing soil amended with 5% phosphate sludge under semicontrolled greenhouse conditions and exposed to severe drought stress (25% field capacity) for 30 days. The results showed that PGPR inoculation significantly mitigated the adverse effects of drought stress by maintaining plant growth and physiological performance. Compared with noninoculated drought‐stressed seedlings, PGPR‐inoculated seedlings exhibited significant increases in shoot length (32.7%), leaf number (56.9%), and internode distance (31.0%). In parallel, soil bioavailable phosphorus increased by 19.7‐fold following inoculation compared with the noninoculated treatment. Moreover, PGPR‐inoculated seedlings showed significantly increased chlorophyl a and b contents and a decrease in osmolyte accumulation, including proline and soluble sugars, indicating improved photosynthetic performance and reduced osmotic stress. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the PGPR consortium enhances drought tolerance through synergistic effects on nutrient mobilization, plant growth, and stress regulation, supporting its use with phosphate sludge as a sustainable strategy for chia cultivation under arid and semiarid conditions.
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DOI: 10.1002/nzc2.70227
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