Influence of Integrated Bio-inoculants (Rhizobium and Trichoderma) on Growth, Yield Attributes and Productivity of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

Chickpea is an important pulse crop, the productivity of which is frequently constrained by the unfavorable soil fertility and soil-borne pathogens. The solution to this is a sustainable approach to improve crop performance by the use of bio-agents in integrated nutrient and disease management. A field demonstration was conducted in 2023-2024 on ten farmer's field (F1-F10) to assess seed treatment with Rhizobium (10 g kg-1 seed) and the soil treatment with Trichoderma (5 kg ha-1) on Chickpea variety GNG-2144. This performance was compared with the current Farmer Practices (FP). The main parameters that were measured were plant height, primary branches, number of pods in each plant, seeds in each pod, and test weight of 100 seeds. Mean plant height of the Demo plots was always higher than that of the traditional practices; mean plant height of FP was 34.51cm, whereas that of Demo plots was 37.12 cm. There were large increases in branching and pod development, with the mean primary branch count increasing to 5.6 and the number of pods per plant increasing to 25.5. Efficiency of seed development was also improved, wherein the number of seeds per pod rose by 1.5-2.5, and the 100-seed test weight rose by 13.27 g to 14.5 g. The use of bio-inoculants and the enhanced application of management greatly increased productivity and harvesting efficiency. The average yield of grain increased by 22.51 percent, with an increase in the mean grain yield in the Demo plots as it increased to 18.86 q ha-1 under FP, as compared to 15.41 q ha-1. Although there was a slight change in the yield of biology, the Stover yield in Demo plots was reduced to 19.53 q ha-1 as opposed to 24.80 q ha-1. This caused a major upsurge in Harvest Index, which increased by 38.42 to 49.32. These findings are that Rhizobium and Trichoderma treatments are the most effective at maximizing biomass partitioning in the production of grain, leading to increased reproductive efficiency and better utilization of resources in Chickpea variety GNG-2144 relative to the traditional method.