3.2 Effect of rhizobacteria on rate of photosynthesis and transpiration
Photosynthesis parameters were computed using an infra-red gas analyser (IRGA) and presented in Table 3 . The average rate of photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance increased significantly (P<0.05) in rhizobacterial treated plants and showed an average decrease in nematode inoculated plants, as compared to untreated control at 45 days of nematode inoculation. The average rate of photosynthesis in the rhizobacterial treatments was in the range of 26.07- 28.13 μmol CO2m−2s−1,in the absence of nematode, 23.90 to 25.47 in the presence of nematode, as compared to a low of 16.27 in nematode inoculated control. The average rate of transpiration declined significantly (7.23 mmol H2O m−2s1) on nematode inoculation but enhanced in the range of 7.72-9.83 mmol H2O m−2s−1 in rhizobacterial treatments in presence of the nematode. This effect of enhanced transpiration was also evident in rhizobacterial treatments without nematode. No significant difference was observed in the stomatal conductance and leaf temperature in any rhizobacterial treatment as compared to control.