Improving Drought Stress Tolerance of Peanut Using PGPR and Orange Peel Amendment

Abstract

Peanut provides approximately $4 billion to the US economy. Drought lowers that amount with disease and nutrition and yield loss. Due to a rising global population, less water will be available for agriculture. Inoculating peanut with Bacillus velezensis (Bv) and orange peel (OP) has not been studied as extensively as other drought control methods. Past studies have shown that Bv and OP increase plant growth. The objectives of this experiment were to determine if OP and Bv could improve drought tolerance and if any interactions could be found between the genotypes and inoculants. Four different genotypes were studied within a randomized complete block design in a greenhouse. Results indicated that Bv and OP helped increase drought tolerance and that interactions occurred between genotypes and inoculants. Further study can be directed towards determining AU 18’s potential and how well these Bv and OP inoculants help these genotypes in different settings.