Drought is a big threat to crop production these days, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Availability and uptake of macro and micronutrients at an adequate level and conservation of soil moisture are relevant strategies in this regard. Potassium (K) plays a vital role to sustain crop growth under drought stress. The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria with K solubilizing activity have the potential to provide the plants with K in enough quantity to cope with the effects of drought. The role of potassium solubilizing bacteria (KSB) have already been established. On the other hand, biochar is not only a good source of nutrients but also improves porosity and water holding capacity of the soil into which it is added. So, a pot study was designed to assess the combined role of KSB and biochar on growth indices and phosphorus, potassium and chlorophyll content in sorghum crop under water deficit conditions. The data depicted that KSB + biochar improved plant height, root length, shoot fresh biomass, root fresh biomass, potassium, and phosphorus content shoot of plants up to 30, 42, 49, 67, 36 and 44%, respectively over control at 30% of field capacity moisture level. Similarly chlorophyll a and b contents were found to be improved up to 60.8 and 43% over control at the moisture level of 30% of field capacity. It is concluded that the conjoint application of KSB and biochar is quite effective in improving sorghum growth under drought.
