Ethylene induced soil microbes to increase seed germination, reduce growth time, and improve crop yield in Pisum sativum L.

The main scope of this project was to identify a novel induction method to improve the effectiveness of biological fertilizers for organic farmers. To eliminate additional variables the plants were not treated with chemical or biological pesticides. The biological fertilizer used in this study was induced with co-factors and ethylene under specific conditions. Ethylene induced the soil to release acetonitrile, a component of indole-3-acetonitrile a precursor to the plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). It is known that plant growth promoting bacteria can produce IAA and directly/ indirectly modify plant development and growth.

In this preliminary study, the ethylene induced biological fertilizer (EIBF) improved germination rate, enhanced quality, reduced growth time, and improved crop yield of Pisum sativum L (green peas) with a single application. Many biological fertilizer require two to three applications a year to see improved growth.Green peas grown in ethylene induced soil improved pea quantity by 200% per plant compared to control samples. EIBF increased the crop yield by over 57%. The average biological fertilizer only improves crop by 20-30%. The peas harvested from the plants grown in EIBF were 4 times larger peas collected from plants grown in the control soil. The improvement and continued study of EBIF may have a global applications, impacting farming techniques in poor developing countries or organic farms.