Global Advanced Research Journal of Agricultural Science (GARJAS) ISSN: 2315-5094

March 2015 Vol. 4(3): pp. 127-136

Copyright © 2015 Global Advanced Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Isolation of endophytic, epiphytic and rhizosphere plant growth-promoting bacteria from cultivated rice paddy soils of the Guadalquivir river marshes

¹Inmaculada del Castillo, ¹Jorge Ojeda, ¹Esaú Megías, ¹Hamid Manyani, ²Francisco Javier López-Baena, ²Francisco Pérez-Montaño, ²Ramón A. Bellogín,²María del Rosario Espuny, ²María Teresa Cubo, ²Francisco Javier Ollero, and ¹*Manuel Megías.

¹ Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Sevilla. Sevilla, Spain.

² Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla. Sevilla, Spain.

Corresponding Author’s Email: megiasg@us.es;

Tel: +34 954556766; Fax: +34 954628162.

Accepted 02 February, 2015

Abstract

Weight deviation groupings were investigated for growth performance, digestibility and carcass characteristics in pigs. One hundred twenty crossbred pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire) of similar age were assigned to 3 treatments groups based on body weight with 4 replications having 10 pigs per replication for 10 weeks. The treatment groups were- 1) MW= Mixed weight group of heterogeneous high and low weight pigs, 2) HW = High weight group of homogeneous high weight pigs and 3) LW = Low weight group of homogeneous low weight pigs. Results revealed that body weight gain was higher (p<0.05) in the homogeneous group (HW and LW) compared to heterogeneous group (MW), however, feed intake and feed efficiency was statistically not different. Higher aggressive behavior was found among the individuals of heterogeneous group compared to homogeneous group. In addition, digestibility of DM of homogeneous group showed higher value (p<0.05) compared to heterogeneous group (MW) while digestibility of nitrogen was not significantly differed. Furthermore, warm carcass weight, dressing percentage and back fat thickness was significantly higher (p<0.05)in homogeneous group (HW and LW) compared to heterogeneous group (HW).Better carcass quality and yield grade was found in case of homogeneous group but there were no significant differences among weight groups. Economic analysis indicated that per unit of body weight gain of homogeneous group was better than the heterogeneous group (p<0.05). In conclusion, weight grouping might be applicable for better management for obtaining uniform slaughter weight group, better growth and carcass characteristics, and ensure animal welfare.

Keywords: Body weight, Carcass quality, Digestibility, Economy, Growth performance, Pig.