Soil inoculant

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Soil inoculants are bacteria or fungi that are added to soils in order to enhance plant growth by either:

• Freeing up soil nutrients for plant use.
• Entering into symbiotic relationships with plant root systems.
• Acting as antagonistic organisms against plant pathogens.

The most commonly used soil inoculants are rhizobacteria that live symbiotically with legumes such as peas, beans, etc. These bacteria live within specialized nodules on the root systems of legumes, where they process atmospheric nitrogen into a form available for the plants to use.

Another group of common soil inoculants are mycorrhizal fungi, which attach to the roots of many plant species and help conduct water and nutrients for the plants to use.

[edit] List of Soil Inoculant Bacteria

• Acidovorax facilis
• Bacillus subtilis

[edit] See also

• Soil conditioner