Changes of yield and yield components of two chickpea cultivars affected by mesorhizobium and mycorrhiza at different amounts of nitrogen starter fertilizer

One of the ways to achieve sustainability in farming systems is to use the potential of beneficial microorganisms for improving crop growth and reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. So to evaluate the response of yield and yield components of two chickpea cultivars to mesorhizobium and mycorrhiza under different levels of nitrogen starter fertilizer, an experiment was conducted as factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications in spring-summer of 2015 at Agricultural Research Station of Bu Ali Sina University. Factors examined were included mesorhizobium (inoculated and no inoculated), mycorrhiza (application and no application) and nitrogen starter fertilizer (0, 30 and 60 kg N ha-1). In this study two chickpea cultivars (Hashem and Azad) were investigated but analyzed separately. The evaluated traits included the number of pods per plant, pod weight, seed weight, seed yield, biological yield and harvest index. The results showed that maximums of grain and biological yields in Hashem cultivar (2013.46 and 5341.3 kg/ha respectively) were achieved in application of two biofertilizers simultaneously with the application of 30 kg N ha-1 similarly in Azad cultivar the maximums of grain and biological yields (2283.6 and 4042.8 w kg/ha respectively) were achieved in application of two biofertilizers simultaneously with the application of 60 kg N ha-1 but there was not a significant difference with 30 kg N ha-1. According to the results separate or simultaneous (emphatic) application of studied biofertilizers can lead to reduced use of nitrogen starter fertilizer by 50% in two studied chickpea cultivars.