Effects of <i>Rhizobium</i> Inoculation and Phosphorus Fertilizer Rates on Growth, Yield and Yield Components of Chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum L.</i>) at Goro, Bale Zone, Oromia Regional State

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important legume crop in Ethiopia. However, the productivity of the crop is very low due to a number of constraints out of which soil nutrient depletions a serious problem. Field experiment was conducted in 2015/16 in Goro, Bale Zone, Oromia Regional State to determine the effectiveness of Rhizobium strains and phosphorus fertilizer application on two varieties of chickpea (Arerti and Habru). The thirty treatments included: two Rhizobial inoculants (EAL018andEAL029), five P 2 O 5 rate (0, 15, 30, 45and 60 kg P 2 O 5 ha-1); and two varieties of chickpea (Arerti and Habru). The experiment was set up in split plot design with factorial arrangement of two varieties of chickpea on the main plots and five levels of P 2 O 5 and two types of Rhizobium in the subplot. Flowering date and plant height (PH) were significantly affected due to varieties, application of P 2 O 5 and Rhizobium inoculation. The shoot dry matter production, number of primary and secondary branch, maturity date, number of pod and seed per plant, above ground biomass (AGBM), grain yield, thousand grain weight, were significantly affected by variety, rhizobium inoculation and application of P 2 O 5. Maximum response was obtained from EAL029 strain inoculation and application of 45kg P 2 O 5 ha-1 for dry matter production, number of pod and seed per plant, AGBM and grain yield. However, increasing P 2 O 5 applications from 45 to 60 kg ha-1 provide maximum thousand grain weight respectively. The current investigation indicated that Arerti variety inoculation with Rhizobium strain EAL029 along with application of P 2 O 5 at rate of 45 kg ha-1 found to be appropriate for chickpea production in the study area. Since the experiment was conducted only for one year, we suggest the results to be verified with more varieties of chickpea and rhizobium strain under the same agro-climatic conditions.

Effect of P Application Rate and Rhizobium Inoculation on Nodulation, Growth, and Yield Performance of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

“…It is required for efficient and early root development [23], N 2 -fixation (enhanced nodulation) [24,25], increased leaf size and branching [26], photosynthesis process [27], constituents of ATP and ADP [28], flowering, seed formation [28], grain yield [29], increased resistance to plant diseases [30], and hastening crop maturity [22]. However, P has most frequently been identified as a deficient nutrient in most soils especially in the tropics [31,32], and it makes the situation most serious since the P necessity of legumes is greater as compared to cereals [33]. Hence, the use of an optimum rate of P fertilizer and improved P use efficiency have a major effect on enhancing the growth and productivity of legume crops such as chickpea [34].…”

“…International Journal of Agronomy process of N 2 -fixation is largely sensitive to the deficiency of P, via its influence on the growth and survival of rhizobia, nodule formation, nodule functioning, and growth of the host plants [22,75]. Although there are various studies in relation to the effects of separate/integrated use of P rate and rhizobium inoculation on nodulation, growth, and yield of chickpea [32,76], there has not been a review about such research findings; hence, considering its significance, the aim of this paper is to review the effect of P rates and rhizobium inoculation on nodulation, growth, and yield of chickpea.…”

Effect of rhizobium isolates and nitrogen on nodulation, growth and yield in lentil

“…Similar result was also reported by Dutta et al (1998) in lentil who observed that the bacterial isolate treated genotypes which had capacity to early higher TDM and growth rate also showed higher seed yield. Further, the bio-fertilizer effect on growth and biomass production of legume crops has been studied (Iqbal et al, 2012;Hossain et al, 2014;Meleta and Abera, 2019) Haque et al, 2014 and found that bio-fertilizer treatment improve plant growth and development. In this study, bio-fertilizer treated plants produced higher TDM than non-biofertilizer treated plant that supported the earlier findings.…”

“…Readily available nitrogen helps to increase more photosynthesis and dry matter accumulation as well as increase leaf area index, thereby enhance biomass of root and shoot resulting bearing more pods and seeds pod -1 , 1000-grain weight of legume crops and performed more seed yield. Meleta and Abera (2019) stated that Rhizobium inoculants increased the grain yield of chickpea by 10.4-19.3% over uninoculated control. Tiwari et al (2018) reported that inoculation of Rhizobium influenced maximum seed yield of lentil comparing with control.…”

“…There is a need to identify appropriate rhizobium strain which will enhance nitrogen fixation attributes and yield of lentils under different nitrogen levels. However, the recommended rate of fertilizer might vary according to crop type (variety), location, soil type, etc (Meleta and Abera, 2019). OBJECTIVES: This research was initiated to study the effect of rhizobium inoculants and N fertilizer rates on the growth and…”