Diazotrophic associations in sugar cane cultivation in South India

Field experiments with N-2-fixing Acetobacter diazotrophicus, Herbaspirillu m spp., and Azospirillum lipoferum in association with vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) on South Indian commercial sugar cane varieties which wer e not associated with A. diazotrophicus naturally, indicated promising pros pects for limiting the use of inorganic N fertilizer from 140 kg ha(-1) to the recommended dose of 275 kg N ha(-1). The results also confirmed that th e use these microbes as biofertilizers would support sugar cane yields equi valent to or greater than yields supported by the recommended chemical N fe rtilizers.