Agricultural Bacteriology Section, College of Agriculture, Pune - 411 005, India
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Fifteen isolates of Rhizobium from groundnut crop were evaluated. Five isolates viz. SMGNR3, SMGNR-8, PGNR-1, PGNR-8 and SGNR-5 performed significantly better to nodulation (40 to 49/plant), dry weight of nodules (106 to 124 mg/plant), shoot (10.4 to 11.6 g/plant), root (3.2 to 3.8 g/plant), pod yield (22.0 to 25.8 q/ha) and dry matter yield (36.8 to 45.0 q/ha) over untreated control. An average increase in yield of pods and dry matter due to inoculation was 20.6 and 34.8 per cent respectively over control. The isolate SMGNR-8 and PGNR-8 produced maximum yield of pods 25.8 q/ha and dry matter 45.0 q/ha respectively over control 17.3 and 26.1 q/ha. The isolates SMGNR 3 and 8, PGNR l and 8 and SGNR 5 from sub-montane, plain and scarcity rainfall zone of Maharashtra were considered most efficient strains of Rhizobium for groundnut in their respective zone.
