Effect of Bio-Nutrition and Seed Priming on Growth and Yield of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Kaboli Type

Introduction: The excessive use of chemical fertilizers devastates soil fertility and causes different types of environmental pollution. Therefore, using adequate eco-friendly fertilizers in agriculture enhances productivity but has no adverse effect on nature. Recently, there has been reported that beneficial soil microbes produce some volatile organic compounds, which are beneficial to plants. The amendment of these microbes with locally available organic materials and nanoparticles is currently used to formulate biofertilizers for increasing plant productivity. These bacteria are naturally present in soils, but their population decreases for a long time because of long-term environmental stress, improper use of chemical agents, and the absence of a suitable host plant. Adding these bacteria to the soil, before or during the growing season, increases the growth and production of agricultural products. Since available water is the main growth limiting factor in chickpea cultivation, it is useful to improve nutrition, especially using plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, for accelerating the growth and development of plants at the end of the season. Materials and Methods: In order to evaluate the effect of bio-nutrition and seed priming on growth and yield of chickpea genotypes (MCC463, MCC741, ILC8617, ILC72, FLIP02-51C) an experiment was carried in split plots based on Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications in 2019. Experimental factors included nutritional treatments as the main plots and chickpea genotypes as the subplots. Nutritional treatments were 1- seed priming with the use of free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and potassium solubilizing bacteria (P + BF), 2- free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and potassium solubilizing bacteria before sowing (BF), 3- seed priming with the application of free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and potassium solubilizing bacteria with foliar application of amino acid, potassium and silicon during growth stages (P + BF + F), 4- application of free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and potassium solubilizing bacteria before planting with foliar application of amino acid, potassium and silicon during growth stages (BF + F), and 5- control (without biological and chemical fertilizers). Free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and potassium solubilizing bacteria were sprayed five liters per hectare on the soil surface before planting with 107 CFU per ml and mixed with soil. Foliar application with amino acid (1:1000) was done in two stages (before flowering and 50% flowering stage), and foliar application with potassium (1:1000) and silicon (1.5:1000) was carried out in the 50% flowering stage. Results and Discussion: Results showed that the highest concentration of chlorophyll a was obtained for BF and MCC463 with an increase of 3.1 times greater than control. The highest concentration of chlorophyll b was obtained for BF + F and FLIP02-51. The highest green area index was recorded for MCC741 in P + BF. The highest number of pods per plant in MCC463 and FLIP02-51 was observed in BF + F, with 88 and 30% more than the control, respectively. The highest biomass produced was obtained for ILC8617 and BF + F, by 24% higher than the control. ILC72 and MCC463 showed the highest grain yield in P + BF + F treatment, which increased grain yield by 35% and 4% (320 and 50 kg/ha), respectively, with respect to control. MCC741under BF treatment showed a doubled (810 kg/ha) grain yield relative to control. The highest grain yield for P + BF was found in ILC8617 and increased by 28% (340 kg/ha) as compared to control. In this genotype, grain yield in BF + F was also significantly greater than that in the control by 22%, (270 kg/ha). FLIP02-51 grain yield in BF increased by 12% (170 kg/ha) as compared with the control. Conclusion: In terms of seed yield, ILC72 and MCC463 were more responsive to P + BF + F and ILC8617 and FLIP02-51 in the BF and ILC8617 in P + BF with respect to other treatments. It seems that despite the positive effect of biofertilizer, genetic characteristics of genotypes are influential in plant growth and yield; therefore, it is necessary to select the appropriate genotype for each region so as to make the most utilization of the nutrients and achieve high yield.