The effect of on-farm hydropriming ، Rhizobium bacteria inoculation and cattle manure on plant height and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Poor crop establishment, due to poor land preparation methods and inadequate soil moisture, continues to be a major constraint to crop production for smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics. On-farm seed priming (soaking seed in water) has been offered as a solution to this problem, but the ways in which this technology interacts with soil conditions are not well understood. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of on-farm hydropriming, Rhizobium bacteria inoculation and cattle manure on plant height and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Experiment was carried out as factorial based on randomized complete block design. Factors included: hydropriming (non-primed and primed), Rhizobium inoculation (inoculated and non- inoculated) and cattle manure (0, 5 and 10 ton per hectare). Results showed that hydropriming and Rhizobium bacteria inoculation treatments significantly increased plant height, number of pod per plant, number of seed per pod, 100-seed weight, grain and biological yields. Cattle manure significantly affected all of traits except number of seed per pod. The interaction effect of hydroprimed and Rhizobium bacteria inoculation was significant for all traits except number of seed per pod and the interaction effect of hydroprimed and cattle manure was significant only for plant height and number of pod per plant . Also the interaction effect of Rhizobium bacteria inoculation and cattle manure was significant only for 100-seed weight. The results of this experiment showed the benefits of hydropriming and Rhizobium inoculation in improvement of chickpea yield.