NODULATION, N-2, FIXATION AND YIELD OF CHICKPEA AS INFLUENCED BY HOSTCULTIVAR AND BRADYRHIZOBIUM STRAIN DIFFERENCES

Chickpeas inoculated with two local isolates of Bradyrhizobium, either singly or as a mixed culture, and with an imported strain were compar ed with an uninoculated treatment in a greenhouse trial using five cul tivars of chickpea growing in soil that had not supported legume growt h in the recent past. Inoculation gave significant increases in nodule number, nodule dry weight, N accumulation and seed yield with signifi cant strain x cultivar interactions. Although the mixed inoculant was superior in early nodule formation, the local isolates performed bette r in later measurements. Two recently-developed gamma-ray induced muta nts of chickpea, G-299 and G-296, nodulated better than the other thre e cultivars. The data support the use of local bradyrhizobia to prepar e inoculant for chickpea and suggest that mutant chickpea genotypes of fer potential benefits in N-2 fixation and legume yield.