Optimizing Boron Seed Coating Level and Boron-Tolerant Bacteria for Improving Yield and Biofortification of Chickpea
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Optimizing Boron Seed Coating Level and Boron-Tolerant Bacteria for Improving Yield and Biofortification of Chickpea Mubshar Hussain 1,2
&
Noman Mehboob 1 & Muhammad Naveed 3 & Kousar Shehzadi 4 & Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir 4
Received: 9 June 2020 / Accepted: 29 July 2020 # Sociedad Chilena de la Ciencia del Suelo 2020
Abstract Boron (B) is a vital nutrient equally important for plants and human beings. The native soil fertility of arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan is very low where chickpea is grown on large scale. In such soils, B deficiency is the leading constraint not only for profitable chickpea production but also lead to low B-enriched chickpea grains. Boron seed coating and inoculation with Btolerant bacteria (BTB) can be effective to improve crop response grown on such soils. Chickpea seeds were coated with different levels of boron (0.0 control; 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 g B/kg). Coated and uncoated seeds were divided in two portions and half of these seeds were inoculated with BTB, i.e., Bacillus sp. MN54 while the other half of these seeds were not inoculated with BTB, i.e., Bacillus sp. MN54. Boron seed coating improved seedling growth, nodulation, seed yield, and grain B concentration. Crop response for such characteristics was further augmented with the inoculation of BTB. It was found that seed coating with 1.5 g B kg−1 along with BTB inoculation was the best combination to improve seedling growth, nodulation, and grain yield of chickpea. Higher concentration of B in chickpea seeds was recorded at higher levels of B seed coating (3.0 g B kg−1 soil). Boron seed coating improved grain yield by 9–25% compared with the control treatment. Boron seed coating at lower rates (1.5 g kg−1) along with seed inoculation with BTB Bacillus sp. MN54 seemed a viable option to improve nodulation, growth, yield, and grain B biofortification of chickpea. Keywords Biofortification . Malnutrition . Boron-tolerant bacteria . Nodulation . Correlation
1 Introduction Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important pulse crop which has a great nutritional value. Its seed contains 18– 22% protein, 52–70% carbohydrate, and 4–10% fats (Ali et al. 2003). In Pakistan, chickpea is mostly grown in arid lands of Pothohar Thal, which lack essential micronutrients and low in fertility (FAO 2017). In order to attain better
* Mubshar Hussain [email protected] 1
Department of Agronomy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
2
School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia
3
Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
4
College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur Sub-Campus, Layyah, Pakistan
production through sustainable practices, it is important to improve the nutrient use efficiency of the crops. Fertilizer application at optimum rate by using improved methods is the most important factor to enhance nutrient use efficiency (Robert 2008). Soil, foliar application,
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