Research

Life Sciences & Biotechnology

Title :

The Potassium Mystery: Decoding Tea soils for Unleashing Revolutionary soil Fertility and Plant Growth with Potassium-Mobilizing Bacteria and Multi-Machine Learning

Area of research :

Life Sciences & Biotechnology

Focus area :

soil Microbiology

Principal Investigator :

Dr. saibal Ghosh, Tea Research Association

Timeline Start Year :

2024

Timeline End Year :

2026

Contact info :

Details

Executive Summary :

Potassium (K) uptake and distribution significantly impact tea plant cultivation, affecting yield and quality. In North East India, depleted K reserves in soils indicate K limitation. Potassium-mobilizing bacteria (KMB) play a crucial role in releasing immobile K from minerals, influencing soil mineral availability, fertility, and plant growth regulation. Utilizing KMBs as biofertilizers can improve K availability and ensure environmental sustainability in tea cultivation. K content in mature leaves and ash is a reliable indicator for identifying K deficiency in India. However, specific studies on tea availability, uptake, and distribution are limited. statistical modeling, FIAM, and sAMOE methods can help understand K chemistry and distribution in tea soils and identify the optimal KMB biofertilizer. studying native KMB and efficient microbial consortia can further enhance K availability, leading to increased high-quality tea production and promoting environmental and agricultural sustainability in tea cultivation.

Total Budget (INR):

Organizations involved