Synergistic Effects of Rhizobial Inoculum With Chemical Fertilizer on Growth and Yield of Wheat

Abstract

The present study was aimed at examining the combined effect of five species of rhizobial inoculation (Control, Bradyrhizobium sp. (Vigna), Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae, Bradyrhizobium Mungbean, Mesorhizobium ciceri, and Rhizobium leguminosarum bv phaseoli) at three levels (120, 240, 360 kg.ha -1 ) of NPK on the physiological characteristics, yield components, and leaf chemical content of two wheat species. The results indicated that all physiological characteris tics and all nutrient contents of leaf under study, total dry weight of plant at harvest, spike weight, grain number, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index increased significantly as a result of the interaction between the chemical fertilizer, the biofertilizer, and the wheat species. It was observed that the combination of rhizobial bacteria and wheat species had a positive effect on the physiological characteristics, leaf nutrient contents, and yield components, but not on spike length, spikele t number, and weight of 1000 grains. Our data suggested that a lower level of NPK fertilizer and rhizobial inoculation should be combined in order to achieve the greatest effect on yield components. Also, different types of rhizobial bacteria should be used as biofertilizer in order to improve wheat production.