• Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Peas
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Sustainability
• Yields

Objective

To improve the productivity and nutrient efficiency of cropping systems involving pea, lenti,l or chickpea by bringing to commercialization a pulse-associated H2-oxidizing plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria from Saskatchewan.

Outcome

Adapted associative bacteria can enhance the growth, yield, and N2-fixation of legumes. The plant-growth-promoting attributes of H2-oxydizing rhizobacteria associated with the roots of lentil grown in semiarid Saskatchewan were evaluated. The soil-borne pathogen Fusarium avenaceum was markedly suppressed by all the H2-oxidizing bacteria in vitro, and seven isolates also suppressed the growth of both Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium ultimum. Several of the H2-oxidizing rhizobacterial isolates increased shoot and root biomass. Several isolates increase nodule number both under drought and conditions of moisture sufficiency. The inoculation of lentil with individual H2-oxidizing rhizobacteria enhanced greenhouse-grown plants infected by the fungal root pathogens F. avenaceum, R. solani, and P. ultimum. Some of the H2-oxidizing rhizobacteria exhibited multiple plant-growth-promoting attributes. Inoculation with the H2-oxydizing rhizobacteria increased the level of natural AM root colonization in the field and could improve plant productivity at flowering, with no effect on grain yield.

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