954 / 2024-09-19 21:27:05

Investigating the effects of mangrove endophytes and aquatic bacteria on the quality of crops.

agriculture,soil microorganisms,Mangrove endophytic fungi

Session 61 - Advancing Blue Food Futures Towards Ocean Conservation and Global Resilience

The growing population of the world ensures that agriculture products will always be in demand. However, farmers of both local and commercial scale are unable to cope with these growing demands either due to poor soil conditions as well disease or pests lead to lower yield and quality of crops. In order to combat these, farmers have resort to usage to chemical fertilisers and pesticide which have lead to controversies in terms of food safety and sustainability. It was shown that various types of fungi and bacteria can be added to crops to improve their quality despite poor soil conditions as well as combat diseases. Using Chili and Okra as model crops, the study aims investigate the effects of mangrove endophytes and aquatic bacteria in improving growth quality. Using 9 replicates, crops will be grown under different treatments:  control, bacteria treated, and fungi treated. The quality of the crops were measured via height, leaf count, root length and fruit mass if possible. Biochemical analysis of the fruit such as phenolics and tannins were also measured from each treatment group. Results so far demonstrated that certain bacteria and fungi area able to improve the growth of either Okra or Chili. Biochemical screening of the microorganism indicates that the microorganism may have contributed via production of certain plant growth promoting factors. The overall findings may prove beneficial in using mangrove endophytes and aquatic bacteria in creating a sustainable agriculture food supply.