Evaluation of Changes in Some Physiological Indices of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Affected by On-farm Seed Priming and Bio-fertilizers at Different Phosphorus Levels

To investigate the effect of on-farm seed priming and bio-fertilizers at different phosphorus levels on some physiological indices of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) a factorial experiment was conducted in spring 2013 in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications at the Agricultural Research Station of Bu Ali Sina University in Hamedan, Iran. The factors consisted of phosphorus fertilizer (0, 50 and 100 percent of recommended phosphorus fertilizer) bio-fertilizer (mycorrhizae, Barvar2, both of them and no-application) and on-farm seed priming (priming with conventional water and no-priming). The results showed that priming increased all growth parameters especially maximum leaf area index, colonization percent and seed yield, by 44, 7 and 27%, respectively. Priming increased the mycorrhizal symbiosis percent by 6.8%. Application of bio-fertilizers, especially the simultaneous application of mycorrhiza and Barvar2 at 50 percent phosphorus, compared with the control treatment resulted in 27.4, 13.8, 8.2 and 29.5% increases in maximums of leaf area index, crop growth rate, total dry matter and seed yield, respectively. Mycorrhizal symbiosis with chickpea roots could reduce phosphate fertilizer application without reducing the physiological indices of chickpea.