Leguminous crops suffer severely in soils poor in phosphorus. A 2-factor factorial experiment was conducted in a net-house to explore the effect of graded levels of P fertilizer (0, 30, and 60 kg P ha–1 or P0, P30, and P60, respectively) together with rhizobium (biological nitrogen fertilizer and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (biological phosphorus fertilizer in terms of nutrient uptake, yield, and quality of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Turk J Agric For (2014) 38: 47-54 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Use of N and P biofertilizers reduces inorganic phosphorus application and increases nutrient uptake, yield, and seed quality of chickpea 1, 2 2 2 2 Moin UDDIN *, Sajad HUSSAIN , Mohammad Masroor Akhtar KHAN , Nadeem HASHMI , Mohammad IDREES , 2 2 Mohammad NAEEM , Tariq Ahmad DAR 1 Botany Section, Women’s College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, ., India 2 Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, ., India Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Leguminous crops suffer severely in soils poor in phosphorus. A 2-factor factorial experiment was conducted in a net-house to explore the effect of graded levels of P fertilizer (0, 30, and 60 kg P ha–1 or P0, P30, and P60, respectively) together with rhizobium (biological nitrogen fertilizer (BNF)) and/or phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (biological phosphorus fertilizer (BPF)) in terms of nutrient uptake, yield, and quality of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Phosphorus was applied as basal dose, while seeds were treated with respective biofertilizer(s) before sowing according to the treatments [BF0 (control), BNF, BPF, and BNF+BPF]. Concerning the main effects, P60 proved superior or equivalent to P30, while among the biofertilizer treatments, BNF+BPF gave the greatest values for nutrient uptake as well as for yield and quality parameters. The interaction between P levels and biofertilizer treatments was generally significant. 30 kg P ha–1 applied with N and P biofertilizers (P30 × BNF+BPF) was the most profitable interaction for N uptake as well as for yield and quality characteristics. Compared to P60 applied alone (P60 × BF0), P30 × BNF+BPF resulted in greater N uptake (), seed yield (), and the content of seed protein () and carbohydrate
