Purpose <p>The excessive and unbalanced use of inorganic fertilizers has significantly reduced soil health and caused environmental problems. Most fertilizers applied to soil become fixed, leading to reduced availability of important nutrients. Most of the applied phosphorus (P) gets fixed in the soil due to the calcareous nature of Pakistani soils. In the current situation, combining inorganic P fertilizer and farmyard manure (FYM) with solubilizing bacteria may enhance the yield and nutrient availability in pearl millet (<i>Pennisetum glaucum</i> L.).</p> Methods <p>This two years (2020 and 2021) research was conducted to improve the fodder yield of pearl millet. The experiment design was randomized complete block design (RCBD) with factorial arrangements. The treatments consisted of two factors, i.e., P sources and bacterial inoculation. The treatments were P₁: No P, P₂: 100% inorganic P (IP), P₃: 100% organic P (OP) and P₄: 50% IP + 50% OP combined with both bacterial inoculation and no inoculation. The data related to allometric traits, plant height, number of tillers, fodder yield, straw P content and P use efficiency were measured.</p> Results <p>The results indicated that the treatment P₄ (50% IP + 50% OP) combined with bacteria resulted in higher leaf area index, crop growth rate, plant height and fodder yield in pearl millet. The same treatment recorded higher plant height (30% and 25%) and fodder yield (41% and 34%) as compared to control during 2020 and 2021. The treatment P₄ recorded higher P use efficiency while bacterial inoculation recorded a higher number of tillers. Moreover, higher straw P content and the benefit-cost ratio were observed under the same treatment. Conversely, the lowest values for yield and growth traits were observed in the control treatment lacking both P and bacterial application.</p> Conclusion <p>The combined application of P (50% IP + 50% OP) with bacterial inoculation proved to be a better approach to improve the fodder yield of pearl millet and soil health.</p>