Effectiveness of micronutrient application and Rhizobium inoculation on growth and yield of Chickpea

The field investigation was carried out to improve the inoculated Rhizobium efficiency by applying different micronutrients on nodulation, growth and uptake of N & P and yield of chickpea during Rabi seasons of 2006–07 at the Crop Research Centre, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. Fourteen treatments consisting combinations of micronutrients viz. Zinc, Boron and Molybdenum, with and without Rhizobium sp. inoculation, were laid out in randomized block design (RBD) in triplicates. Rhizobium sp. inoculation gave significant increases of 33.72, 26.11 and 4.56 per cent in nodule dry weight and 15.59, 14.25 and 1.90 per cent in plant dry weight at 45, 75 and 120 DAS, respectively. Among the two levels of ZnSO4, 25 kg ZnSO4/ha was found superior to 10 kg ZnSO4/ha for different studied parameters. Application of 10 kg Borax/ha was found better than 5 kg Borax/ha for chickpea. Seed treatment of Mo with 0.5 kg Na2MoO4/ha was found sufficient to meet the crop need. Rhizobium inoculation in combination with different micronutrients recorded higher nodulation, plant dry weight, grain and straw yield and uptake of N and P than the treatments of only micronutrients or Rhizobium alone. The highest nodule dry weight of 235, 616 and 1476 mg/plant was recorded with treatment of 5 kg Borax/ha + Rhizobium at 45, 75 and 120 DAS, respectively. The treatment with 0.5 kg Na2MoO4/ha + Rhizobium gave the highest plant dry weight of 4.22, 9.12 and 11.35 g/plant at 45, 75 and 120 DAS, respectively. The highest grain yield of 2977 kg/ha and straw yield (7111 kg/ha) was recorded due to inoculation with Rhizobium + 10 kg Borax/ha and Rhizobium + 5 kg Borax/ha, respectively. Significant variations in total N and P uptake due to Rhizobium inoculation and application of micronutrients were also observed and it varied from 122.83 kg/ha and 10.67 kg/ha in uninoculated control to 203.90 kg/ha and 22.02 kg/ha in 5 kg Borax/ha + Rhizobium, respectively.