Abstract
Abstract Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important food legume in tropical and subtropical areas because of its ability to adapt to a wide range of agro-climatic regions. Groundnut is usually cultivated in nutrient-poor soil and rain-fed conditions, so average yield tends to be very low relative to potential yield. Even though the nitrogen (N) requirement of groundnut is much higher than cereals due to its high protein content, it has the capacity to meet 60-80% of N-based requirements through symbiotic N fixation via its root nodules. In its symbiotic relationship with legumes, Rhizobium fixes N, thereby positively impacting the content of this nutrient. This study aimed to isolate, characterize and purify microbial strains of Rhizobium specific to groundnut in a bid to increase this legume’s productivity. The research was conducted in the AICRP-Groundnut laboratory and greenhouse of the Directorate of Research, BCKV, in Kalyani, India during October 2016 to March 2017. Two Rhizobium isolates (RhBC and NRA1) were isolated and selected from groundnut pot cultures. After 45 days, NRA1 produced higher plant biomass, longer roots and shoots, more nodules and higher nodule dry weight than RhBC. NRA1 was selected for a future field trial. The two isolated microbial strains will aid in the screening of additional local isolates to test their effectiveness when co-cultured with local groundnut cultivars to increase yield in soil with low fertility.
Highlights
Groundnut, otherwise more commonly referred to as peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), is an important food legume in tropical and subtropical areas and is grown in 94 countries under different agro-climatic regions (Table 1)
To isolate Rhizobium, one high-yielding groundnut variety Trombay groundnut (TG) 51 and one advanced line TG 71 were grown in separate pots (Figure 1A) and were not inoculated
TG 51 is a Spanish bunch (Arachis hypogaea ssp. fastigiata var. vulgaris) variety bred at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay by crossing TG 26 with Chico in 1998 (Kale et al 2009)
Summary
Otherwise more commonly referred to as peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), is an important food legume in tropical and subtropical areas and is grown in 94 countries under different agro-climatic regions (Table 1). Groundnut can grow in poorly fertile and rainfed conditions. This may explain why yield in some countries, such as India and Nigeria, are lower than in Brazil or Argentina, even though it is grown over a larger area in the former countries (FAO 2018). In countries where groundnut is grown in nutrient-poor conditions, farmers are unable to increase yield (Gunri et al 2017).
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