Agricultural research communication centre

Yield components and yield:
The pathways by which the
morphological, developmental and reproductive features of
plants in a crop stand contribute to yield are called yield

---

Volume 39 Issue 1, March 2018
33
components (Reddy, 2012). Many researchers around the
globe have reported positive effect of 
Rhizobium
inoculation
on various yield components viz. number of pods per plant,
seeds per pod and 1000-seed weight in chickpea.
Number of pods per plant and number of seeds per
plant were reported to be 21.8% and 10.5% higher,
respectively in chickpea inoculated with 
Rhizobium
over
uninoculated control (Sharar 
et al,
2000). Further, Ali 
et al
(2004) revealed that 1000-seed weight was significantly
better with inoculation. Khan 
et al
(2003) in a similar study
observed significantly higher number of pods per plant,
number of seeds per plant and 1000-seed weight in chickpea.
These findings are in agreement with that of Akhtar and
Siddiqui (2009) and Meena 
et al
(2013).
El Hadi and Elsheikh (1999) studied the effect
of 
Rhizobium
inoculation on the grain yield of chickpea
and reported that inoculation with 
Rhizobium
increased
yield by 72 and 70% in the fir st and second year,
respectively, in comparison to uninoculated control.
Similarly, Maleki 
et al
(2009) conducted a pot experiment
in Ir an and r epor ted high er yield wh er e rh izobial
inoculation was done as compared to uninoculated control.
Furthur, Ogola (2015) from South Africa reported increase
in the grain yield to the tune of 7.9% with 
Rhizobium
inoculation in a clayey and slightly acidic soil.
The increase in the yield components through
seed inoculation might be due to higher nodulation and
more nutrient availability, resulting in vigorous plant
growth and dry matter accumulation, which in turn
resulted in higher seed yield (Namwar 
et al,
2013; Uddin
et al,
2014). More examples of the beneficial effects of
Rhizobium
inoculation in chickpea are given in Table 1.