Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Effects of Watering Regime and Rhizobium Inoculation on the Growth, Functional and Yield Traits of Four Legume Species

S. O. Agele, A. J. Ajayi, F. M. Olawanle

International Journal of Plant & Soil Science · pp. 1–15 · Published 17 Jul 2017

10.9734/IJPSS/2017/32891

Abstract

The effects of watering regime and rhizobial inoculation on the growth, nodulation and seed yields of some legume species was evaluated in the screenhouse of the Department of Crop, Soil & Pest Management, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. The experimental layout was 5 x 3 x 2 factorial with 3 replications given a total of 90 treatments. Seeds of five staple and forage legume species: Pakala (Phaseolus lunatus), Soy bean (TGX 199057f’ and TGX198057), Stylozanthes (Stylozanthes macrocephala) and the Greenleaf Desmodium (Desmodium intortum (Mill.) Urb.) were sown into plastic pots which were watered at 4-, 8- and 12- days intervals, with or without rhizobium inoculation using a rhizobium strain, Rhizobium phaseoli. The plastic pots (5 litre capacity were perforated at bottom to allow for drainage and were filled with pure river sand. The effect of watering regimes on legume species was significant on leaf development, soybean variety, TGX199057f had the highest number of leaves while Desmodium had the least number of leaves. Seedlings that were watered at 4- and 8-days interval had better vigour of growth compared to 12- days watering interval. Compared with 12-days watering interval, both inoculated and non-inoculated seedlings subjected to 4- and 8-days watering intervals had higher root and shoot biomass. TGX 199057f non- inoculated at 8-days watering intervals had the highest value for number of pods and TGX198057 watered at 12- day intervals had higher pod weight. Rhizobium inoculated legumes produced more vigorous plants in addition to higher root nodules, plant height and number of leaves compared with the non-inoculated species. The highest number of leaves and nodules were produced by Phaseolus lunatus when inoculated with the rhizobium strain. However, the highest number of pods was obtained for inoculated soybean (TGX 199057f) compared with the non-inoculated plants. The highest seed yield was obtained from rhizobium inoculated soybean (TGX 198057). Desmodium produced few seeds compared to Phaseolus lunatus and Styolzanthes. The effects of watering regimes and rhizobium inoculation varied on leaf proximate and chemical composition of legume species. The nitrogen, crude protein, ash, chlorophyll, soluble carbohydrates content in leaf differed among the legume species. The legume species inoculated and grown at 4- days watering intervals had the highest contents of moisture, nitrogen, chlorophyll, soluble carbohydrates and ash compared to non-inoculated legume species. Application of rhizobium strain significantly increased seed yield in soybean and Desmodium and caused substantial increase in nodulation. The study has shown that to increase legume productivity under soil moisture deficit stress of marginal/degraded soil, application of rhizobium inoculant is recommended.

Soil moisture stress root nodule legumes growth seed chemical proximate

References (17)

  1. 1 How Plants Cope with Water Stress in the Field? Photosynthesis and Growth [DOI]
  2. 2 Legumes: Importance and Constraints to Greater Use [DOI]
  3. 3 Nitrogen fixation in tropical cropping systems [DOI]
  4. 4 Symbiotic N2 fixation response to drought [DOI]
  5. 5 Future benefits from biological nitrogen fixation: An ecological approach to agriculture [DOI]
  6. 6 Occurrence of nodulation in the Leguminosae [DOI]
  7. 7 Drought Effects on Perennial Forage Legume Yield and Quality [DOI]
  8. 8 Drought Tolerance Characteristics of Brazilian Soybean Cultivars— Evaluation and characterization of drought tolerance of various Brazilian soybean cultivars in the field — [DOI]
  9. 9 Application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) increases protein and dry matter yield under short-season conditions [DOI]
  10. 10 Nodule Formation and Development in Soybeans (Glycine max L.) in Response to Phosphorus Supply in Solution Culture [DOI]
  11. 11 Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes [DOI]
  12. 12 Legume Cover Crops for Improving Crop and Soil Management in the Southern United States [DOI]
  13. 13 Effectiveness of foreign bradyrhizobia strains in enhancing nodulation, dry matter and seed yield of soybean ( Glycine max L.) cultivars in Nigeria [DOI]
  14. 14 Growth and Physiological Response of Fraser Fir [Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.] Seedlings to Water Stress: Seasonal and Diurnal Variations in Photosynthetic Pigments and Carbohydrate Concentration [DOI]
  15. 15 Effect of different Rhizobium inoculation methods on performance of lentil in Pothowar Region.
  16. 16 Efficiency of bacterial inoculation and mineral nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization in rainfed soybean.
  17. 17 Host determinants in nodulation and nitrogen fixation.

Cited by 10

Effect Different Level of Organic Sources on Growth, Yield, Quality and Economic Response of Moong Bean (Vigna radiata L.) in Central Part of India

Mastu Patel, B. Gangwar, Prasann Kumar · Indian Journal Of Agricultural Research · 2025

Assessment of growth parameters and yield of pea (Pisum sativum) under different irrigation methods

NEHA SINGHAL, POONAM SHARMA, RAKESH SHARDA · The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences · 2021

Effects of Watering Regime and Mycorrhizal Inoculation on the Growth and Drought Tolerant Traits of Seedlings of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Varieties

Samuel Agele, Peter Aiyelari, Jibola Adegboye · Global Journal Of Botanical Science · 2018

Applying Agronomic Principles of Rhizobial Inoculation to the Conservation of a Keystone Legume Species in a High Mountain Ecosystem on an Oceanic Island

Laura Pulido-Suárez, Águeda M. González-Rodríguez, Jonay Cubas · Frontiers in Agronomy · 2021

Plant Growth, Nitrogen Content, Nitrogen Uptake, and Seed Quality in Six Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) Landraces

Astryani Rosyad, Satriyas Ilyas, Abdul Qadir · Journal of Tropical Crop Science · 2025

Showing 5 of 10 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

60

Page views

0

PDF downloads

24

Outbound clicks

10

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.