Isolation of Rhizobium from Moisture Stress Imposed Groundnut Nodules

Abstract

Groundnut is an important oil seed crop accounts for a less than half of the major oilseeds produced in the country. Oil content of Groundnut varies from 44 % to 50 % depending upon the varieties and agronomic practices. It is also called as ‘king of oil seeds’ More than 85 % of the crop Is grown under rainfed conditions in low fertile soils. Rhizobium is a well-known symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria. Inoculation of Rhizobium improves plant growth, pod kernel and Oil yield. Rhizobium species help in improving root nodulation and nitrogen fixation, enhancing plant growth and yield of leguminous plants including groundnut under moisture stress conditions. Hence the present study is to isolate Rhizobium species from groundnut nodules by following method given by Vincent (1970) after growing them on Yeast Mannitol Agar Media morphological characteristics were studied, which can be further used for improving nodulation efficiency and plant growth promotion under moisture stress conditions.