Table 2.

Analysis of variance (F values).

	Chlorophyll content (SPAD values)			Dry weight (g per plant)
	52 DAS	72 DAS	88 DAS	52 DAS	72 DAS	88 DAS
PGPB	18.60***	3.80*	9.52***	14.89***	17.86***	11.81***
Application	24.68***	10.72**	41.00***	19.36***	23.73***	37.57***
PGPB*Application	1.23 ns	1.35 ns	2.15 ns	0.52 ns	0.61 ns	0.72 ns

	Photosynthetic rate (μmol CO2m−2 s−1)			Transpiration rate (mmol H2O m−2 s−1)
	52 DAS	72 DAS	88 DAS	52 DAS	72 DAS	88 DAS
PGPB	16.29***	22.60***	4.07*	2.70*	2.15 ns	2.50 ns
Application	77.60***	131.50***	28.63***	12.83*	3.61 ns	4.41*
PGPB*Application	1.47 ns	4.09*	0.87 ns	0.05 ns	0.08 ns	0.03 ns

	Stomatal conductance (mol m−2 s−1)			Yield (kg per plant)
	52 DAS	72 DAS	88 DAS
PGPB	5.05**	2.31 ns	11.16***	3.41*
Application	15.13**	11.36*	18.62***	90.91***
PGPB*Application	0.41 ns	0.23 ns	0.63 ns	5.32*

	Total solids	Protein	Crude fiber	Texture	Sphericity	Size
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(N)		(mm)
PGPB	120.13***	4.36**	56.64***	2.19 ns	0.75 ns	0.27 ns
Application	25.93***	0.09 ns	30.44***	0.05 ns	0.82 ns	0.01 ns
PGPB*Application	55.48***	2.30 ns	2.51 ns	1.60 ns	0.72 ns	0.90 ns

*. **. *** = significance at 0.05. 0.01 and 0.001.ns = not significant.