APPLICATION OF RHIZOBIUM STRAINS AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF NITROGEN ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF GRASSPEA

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University farm, Dhaka to study on the effect of biological strains and different levels of nitrogen on the growth and yield of grasspea during November, 2018 to March, 2019. The experiment consisted of two factors. Factor A: Biological strains (Rhizobium inoculums) (3); S : BARI RLs 10, S 2 : BARI RLs 11and S : BARI RLs 10 + BARI RLs 11 and factor B: Nitrogen levels (5); N 0 3 : No fertilizers, N : Recommended Fertilizers (RF) (N 20 P 2 O 540 K 2 O 20 S 20 B 1 (kg ha -1 ), N 2 : 10kg N ha 1 -1 + RF, N 3 : 30 kg N ha + RF and N 4 : RF + additional 10kg N ha -1 at flower initiation stage. The experiment was laid out in Split Plot Design with three replications. Plant height, above ground dry matter weight plant -1 , branches plant -1 , nodules plant -1 , nodules dry weight plant , seeds pod -1 , 1000 grain weight, grain yield, stover yield, biological yield and harvest index were compared for different treatments. Results of the investigation revealed that, biological strains and nitrogen levels had significant influence on most of the growth, yield and yield contributing characteristics of grasspea. The maximum grain yield (1.20 t ha -1 ) was recorded where both biological strains BARI RLs 10 and BARI RLs 11 (S 3 ) were applied and the minimum grain yield (0.99 t ha -1 ) was recorded where biological strain BARI RLs 10 (S 1 ) was applied. S produced 21.21% more grain over S 1 . The maximum grain yield (1.26 t ha -1 3 -1 ) was recorded where 10 kg N ha + RF (N 2 ) was applied and the minimum grain yield (0.88 t ha -1 ) was recorded where no fertilizer was applied (N 0 ). N 2 produced 43.18% more grain over N maximum grain yield (1.34 t ha -1 ) was recorded where both biological strains BARI RLs 10 and BARI RLs 11 (S 3 ) along with 10 kg N ha -1 0 + RF (N 2 ) were applied and the minimum grain yield (0.75 t ha -1 ) was recorded where biological strain BARI RLs 10 (S 1 ) along with no fertilizer (N 0 ) was applied. Treatment combination S 3 N 2 produced 78.67% more grain over S 1 N 0 . So, it may be concluded that biological strains BARI RLs 10 and BARI RLs 11 along with 10 kg N ha -1 + RF could be a best production package to produce grasspea in different grasspea growing area in Bangladesh.