I= RESPONSE OF CHICKPEA TO PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS; CONTRIBUTION OF NITROGEN -FIXED BY CHICKPEA TO FOLLOWING WHEAT CROP
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Title of Thesis
RESPONSE OF CHICKPEA TO PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS; CONTRIBUTION OF NITROGEN -FIXED BY CHICKPEA TO FOLLOWING WHEAT CROP
Author(s)
Zarrin Fatima
Institute/University/Department Details
Department of Biological Sciences/ Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
Session
2001
Subject
Plant Physiology
Number of Pages
154
Keywords (Extracted from title, table of contents and abstract of thesis)
chickpea, plant growth regulators, rhizobium inoculum, cicer arietinum, indole 3-acetic acid, abscisic acid, nitrogenase activity, nitrogen fixation, plant growth hormones, pink bacteroid tissues

Abstract
The present investigation is based on two experiments, the one carried out in pots under natural condition, and the other carried out in field. In potted plants the effect of plant growth regulators and Rhizobium inoculum have been studied on growth, yield parameters and N2 fixation of chickpea Cicer arietinum (L.). cv. CM 88 under natural condition. The plant growth regulators viz. kinetin, indole 3-acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) were applied at concentration of 105 M as seed soaking and 106 M as foliar spray, alone and in combinations of Rhizobium inoculum strain TAL 1148 and TAL 620 applied as seed coating. Kinetin was found to be the most affective in increasing growth parameter viz. root/shoot biomass, grain yield, and nitrogen fixation (viz. specific nitrogenase activity of nodules, and total N - fixed plant-1) of chickpea. The IAA seed soaking was least effective. The ABA seed soaking as well as foliar spray treatments significantly decreased nodule weight, nitrogenase activity of nodules, specific nitrogenase activity and total N - fixed plant-1. Seed soaking with kinetin and foliar spray with ABA were more effective in increasing the grain weight as compared to control. The plant hormones applied as seed soaking gave better results as compared to foliar spray. Application of Rhizobium inoculum, generally increased growth, yield components and nitrogen fixation. The TAL 1148 strain was more effective than TAL 620. The nitrate and total nitrogen content of soil was significantly greater where kinetin was applied as seed soaking as well as foliar spray to plants. The pattern of response to hormone and Rhizobium inoculum was consistent in the three consecutive years.

The field study has been designed to quantify nitrogen fixation by field grown chickpea and to determine its effects on increasing soil N - fertility and yield of following wheat crop. We examined two years rotational effects of chickpea on wheat at the site of National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad. Soil at this site was sandy loam. The treatments were: continuous wheat with and without N, chickpea wheat rotation with and without N (to wheat), and continuous chickpea. In N treatments, nitrogen was applied to wheat @ 100 kg ha-1. Wheat sown with nitrogen application produced more yield (98%) followed by wheat sown after chickpea crop. Wheat grown without N fertilizer exhausted soil N fertility and produced less grain yields and total biomass compared to other treatment. Continuous chickpea crop and its rotation with wheat enhanced N fertility level of the soil at this site. Chickpea rotation also increased significantly the yield (11 %) of following wheat, particularly in soil without N treatment. The 815N of shoot of chickpea and non-nitrogen fixing reference crop (wheat) was used to determine the percentage of chickpea N derived from nitrogen fixation (pfix). The percentage nitrogen fixed by chickpea ranged 70-98 whereas the total N fixed ranged from 64-103 kg N ha-1 in first rotation and 138 kg N ha-1 in second rotation. The average N balance in our study was 48 kg N ha-1 after first rotation and 50 kg N ha-1 after second rotation.

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3512.94 KB
S. No. Chapter Title of the Chapters Page Size (KB)
1 0 Contents
553.66 KB
2 1 (Experiment 1 Pot Study) Introduction And Review Of Literature 1
217.87 KB
  1.1 Chickpea 1
  1.2 Nodule Formation 3
  1.3 Nitrogen Fixation 4
  1.4 Measurement of Nitrogen Fixation 5
  1.5 Nitrate-Nitrogen Content and Total Nitrogen of the Soil 8
  1.6 Plant Growth Hormones 9
  1.7 Aim of the Project 20
3 2 Materials And Methods 21
151.96 KB
  2.1 Plant Materials and Growing Conditions 21
  2.2 Climatic Conditions 22
  2.3 Preparation of Plant Growth Regulators Solution 23
  2.4 Method of inoculation 23
  2.5 Treatments 23
  2.6 Parameters Studied 24
  2.7 Statistical Analyses of the Data 25
  2.8 Determination of Nitrogenase Activity of Nodules 25
  2.9 Measurements of Volume of Pink Bacteroid Tissues of Nodules 26
  2.10 Nitrate-Nitrogen Content of Soil 26
  2.11 Determination of Total Nitrogen of Soil 27
  2.12 Assessment of N 2 fixation 15 N Abundance Techniques 27
4 3 Results 30
712.2 KB
  3.1 Weight of Nodules 30
  3.2 Nitrogenase Activity of Nodules Plant -1 , Volume of Pink Bacteroid Tissue of Nodules Plant -1 and Specific Nitrogen Activity of Nodules at Flowering and Pod Filling Stage 30
  3.3 Shoot and Root Fresh Weight Plant -1 31
  3.4 Shoot and Root Dry Weight Plant -1 31
  3.5 Grain Weight Plant -1 31
  3.6 % pfix in Dry Shoot 32
  3.7 Total Nitrogen Fixed Plant -1 32
  3.8 Nitrate-Nitrogen and Total Nitrogen Content of Soil 32
5 4 Discussion 49
86.75 KB
  4.1 Weight of Nodules, Volume of Pink Bacteroid Tissue, Nitrogenase Activity, Specific Nitrogenase Activity of Nodules at Flowering and at Pod Filling Stage 49
  4.2 Shoot/ Root Fresh and Dry weight 51
  4.3 Grain Yield 53
  4.4 Total Nitrogen Fixed 53
  4.5 Nitrate - Nitrogen and Total Nitrogen Content of Soil 55
  4.6 Conclusion 56
6 5 (Experiment 2 Field Study) Introduction And Review Of Literature 57
95.27 KB
  5.1 Chickpea in Wheat Based Cropping System or Crop Rotation 57
  5.2 Link Between Pot Experiment and Field Experiment 60
  5.3 Agriculture System of Pakistan 62
  5.4 Economic Significance Of Legume- N 2 Fixation 62
  5.5 Project Development and Hypothesis 63
7 6 Materials And Methods 65
44.3 KB
  6.1 Treatments and Experiment Design 65
  6.2 Parameters Studied 66
  6.3 Assessment of N2 Fixation 15N Abundance Techniques 66
  6.4 Soil Test for Nitrate - Nitrogen and Total Nitrogen Content 67
8 7 Results 68
187.01 KB
  7.1 Plant Population 68
  7.2 Total Above Ground Biomass Yield 69
  7.3 Grain Yield 69
  7.4 Straw Yield 69
  7.5 % pfix in Dry Shoot 70
  7.6 Total N Fixed 70
  7.7 Nitrate - Nitrogen Content and Total Nitrogen Content of Soil 70
9 8 Discussion 77
1659.04 KB
  8.1 Plant Population, Total Above Ground Biomass and Straw Yield 77
  8.2 Grain Yield 78
  8.3 % pfix in Dry Shoot 80
  8.4 Total N Fixed 81
  8.5 Nitrate - Nitrogen Content and Total Nitrogen Content of Soil 81
  8.6 Conclusion 83
  8.7 References 84
  8.8 Appendix 112