Leaf growth and biomass accumulation in radish (Raphanus sativus L.) inoculated with rhizosphere microorganisms

Radish seeds (Raphanus sativus L 'Var Champion') were inoculated with commercial strains of rhizosphere fungi and bacteria. It was designed a totally randomized experiment with four treatments: Chromobacterium violaceum + Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (T1), Azospirillum brasilense (T2), Glomus intraradices (T3), uninoculated control (T4) and 20 replicates with the aim of evaluating its effect on leaf growth, length and dry mass of the root, dry mass of leaves and tubers, as well as fresh mass of the tuber. The net assimilation rate (NAR), absolute growth rate (AGR) and relative growth rate (RGR) were calculated. At 33 after sowing (das) the plants inoculated with Chromobacterium violaceum + Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (T1) showed increases of 52.67% of foliar area in relation to the control; at 42 das the increase was 72.30%. At 33 das there were increases of 49.66 and 45.52% of dry leaf mass in the treatments with Chromobacterium violaceum + Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (T1) and Azospirillum brasilense (T2) with regard to the control. The fresh mass of the tubers was 65.03 and 63.11% higher than the control at 33 das in the same treatments and 80.70 and 74.56% at 42 das respectively. It is concluded that coinoculation with Chromobacterium violaceum + Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and with Azospirillum brasilense increases the growth of radish tubers as a result of a greater surface and foliar biomass and the increase of the Net Assimilation Rate.