Table 2.

Effect of PSR and its consortia on seed germination and vegetative growth of Lycopersicon esculentum L.

PSR strains	Seed germination (%)	Root length (cm)	Shoot length (cm)	Fresh weight (g)		Dry weight (g)
				Root wt.	Shoot wt.	Root wt.	Shoot wt.
S1	60.9	1.533∗	4.266∗	0.0050∗	0.013ns	0.0036ns	0.0050∗
S2	65.6	1.166ns	7.10∗∗	0.0173∗∗	0.086∗∗	0.0070∗∗	0.0076∗∗
S3	70.0	1.633∗∗	7.00∗∗	0.0103∗	0.070∗	0.0040ns	0.0070∗∗
C1	79.9	1.433∗	7.10∗∗	0.0076∗	0.077∗	0.0052∗	0.0060∗∗
C2	80.1	1.366∗	8.00∗∗	0.0163∗∗	0.082∗∗	0.0070∗∗	0.0060∗∗
C3	83.3	1.466∗	6.06∗	0.0146∗∗	0.112∗∗	0.0043ns	0.0080∗∗
C4	95.8	1.366∗	6.66∗∗	0.0046ns	0.045ns	0.0016ns	0.0036∗
Control	56.6	0.600	2.700	0.0023	0.031	0.0010	0.0016
CD at 1%		1.028	1.915	0.0052	0.387	0.0058	0.0231
CD at 5%		0.650	1.380	0.0037	0.0279	0.0042	0.0026

Abbreviations: S1, S2, S3, C1, C2, C3, C4 (as described in Table 1), Control = Without any biological agent; CD = Critical Difference, Value are mean of 3 randomly selected plants from each set. ٭٭ significant at 1%, ٭significant at 5 %; ns = non-significant. as compared to control (non-bacterized seeds).