Effects of mycorrhiza fungi species application on growth and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under drought stress

In order to investigate the influence of drought stress and also arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi inoculation on growth, yield and yield components of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), a pot experiment was conducted using a factorial based on completely randomized blocks design with three replications. The factors were contained three levels of irrigation [satisfactory irrigation (100% irrigation), moderate irrigation (70% irrigation) and deficit irrigation (40% irrigation)] and mycorrhiza inoculation (non-inoculated and inoculated with Glomus etunicatum, Glomus versiforme, and Glomus intraradices). Results showed that drought stress had significant effects on evaluated characteristics. As with decrease of the available water of plant, height of the flowering branches, number of flowering in a branch, dry weight of root, total dry weight, weight of pod, number of pods per plant, grain weight and yield decreased. Also, AM fungi inoculation had significant effects on evaluated characteristics. Plants inoculated with AM fungi had higher growth, growth and yield than non-inoculated plants under drought stress and non-stress conditions. Thus, it could be concluded that at drought conditions AM fungi are able to enhance the growth and yield of chickpea under drought stress condition through enhancing nutrient and water uptake.