Interaction Effect of Phosphorus, Zinc and Rhizobium Inoculation on Growth Parameters of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the interaction among phosphorus, zinc and Rhizobium inoculation on growth parameters of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) during the rabi seasons of 2023-24 and 2024-25 at student’s instructional farm, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur. The experiment consists of 18 treatment combinations in a factorial randomized block design with three replications consisting of three levels of phosphorous (0, 30 and 60 kg ha-1),three zinc levels (0, 2.5 and 5.0 kg ha-1) and two rhizobium inoculation levels (with rhizobium and without rhizobium). The variety of chickpea KPG-59 (Uday) was grown with the recommended cultural practices. On the basis of results emanating from the investigation it can be concluded that among the growth parameters, maximum plant height (cm) at 90 DAS and at harvest was 46.39 cm &51.56 cm with T18 [60 kg P + 5 kg ha-1 Zinc with Rhizobium] and T17 [60 kg P + 2.5 kg ha-1 Zinc with Rhizobium] and the maximum number of nodules per plant at 60 DAS during the first yearwas16.82 and second year is 16.96which was associated with the treatment with T18 [60 kg P + 5 kg ha-1 Zinc with Rhizobium] and T17 [60 kg P + 2.5 kg-1 Zinc with Rhizobium]. The maximum number of dry weight of nodules (mg) per plant at 60 DAS during first year was187.15 and the second year was191, which was associated with the treatment T17 [60 kg P + 2.5 kg ha-1 Zinc with Rhizobium]. The maximum number of branches,34.75 and 36.60 during both years of experimentation was associated with the treatment T17 [60 kg P+ 2.5 kg ha-1 Zinc with Rhizobium] and the maximum number of plant population (m-2) at maturity during the first year was43.79 and the second year was45.40, which was associated with the treatment T18 [60 kg P +5 kg ha-1 Zinc with Rhizobium].