Soil Rhizosphere Microbial Properties of Selected Farmlands in Rumuokparali Community

This study was conducted to determine the rhizosphere soil microorganisms associated with the cultivation of Manihot esculentum, Comelina bengalensis, Talinum triangulare and Telfairia occidentalis. The plants were obtained from newly cultivated, ready for harvest and fallowed farmlands. The rhizosphere microorganisms were enumerated and compared with bulk soil microorganisms. The heterotrophic bacterial count for newly cultivated farmland ranged from 2.9 x107-6.3x108 cfug-1 and total fungal ranged from 5.6 x104-7.0 x106 sfug-1, while the bulk soil total heterotrophic bacterial count was 4.96 x 109 cfug-1 and the total fungal count was 5.87 x 106 sfug-1. The heterotrophic bacterial count for ready for harvest farmland ranged from 1.82 x108-1.80 x109 cfug-1 and total fungal ranged from 2.3 x104-3.57x106 sfug-1, while the bulk soil total heterotrophic bacterial count was 1.90x109 cfug-1 and the total fungal count was 2.30x106 sfug-1. The heterotrophic bacterial count for fallowed farmland ranged from 5.65 x108-1.50x109 cfug-1 and total fungal ranged from 1.33 x106-3.05x106 sfug-1, while bulk soil total heterotrophic bacterial count was 1.74.0x109 cfug-1 and total fungal count was 1.07x106 sfug-1. The rhizosphere soil bacterial isolates belong to the genera: Staphylococcus, Hafnia, Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Bacteroides, Klebsiella, Tatumella, Enterobacter, Corynebacterium and Pseudomonas while fungal isolates belong to the genera: Aspergillus, Epicocum, Chrysosporium, Trichosporon, Cryptococcus, Fusarium, Penicillium and Chaetomium. The bulk soil bacterial isolates belong to genera: Staphylococcus, Hafnia, Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Klebsiella, Tatumella, Corynebacterium and Pseudomonas while the fungal isolates belong to genera: Aspergillus, Epicocum, Chrysosporium, Trichosporon, Cryptococcus and Chaetomium. Microbial diversity of rhizosphere soil was more compared to bulk soil.