The experiment was carried out on litchi trees in Fruit Nursery, Department of Horticulture, Marallia (Miran sahib), Jammu. Mature litchi trees of cv. Dehradun (above 25 years old) planted in scientific manner with square system at 10 m distance of uniform size and vigor was selected as mother tree for air layering. The experiment consists of 10 treatments with three replications of each treatment. The PGPRs used in the layering were Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus sp., Consortia (Bacillus sp. + Pseudomonas fluorescens).The highest B:C ratio (1:1.87) was recorded in treatment containing consortia (Bacillussp. + Pseudomonas fluorescens) @108 cfu ml-1 whereas, the lowest B:C ratio (1:1.46) was recorded in control.

Highlights

• The difference in gross returns between the treatment combinations is due to survival per cent of air layers among the different treatments.
• With the highest cost-benefit ratio of :1.87 recorded in treatment containing consortia (Bacillus sp. + Pseudomonas fluorescens) @108 cfu ml-1., the PGPRs were determined to be highly economically viable for implementation in commercial production.