Effect of additional inoculation with Rhizobium leguminosarum on vegetable pea plants

Relevance. Grain of vegetable pea varieties is processed at canning factories, frozen, dried, and consumed fresh. Industrial cultivation of peas can be made more environmentally friendly by using biological preparations that contain growth-stimulating bacteria, for example Rhizobium species. With additional inoculation with rhizobacteria, legumes have higher values of traits characterizing vegetative development, biochemical parameters and yield; their immunity and resistance to abiotic stress increases as well.Methodology. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of additional inoculation of Rhizobium leguminosarum strain 245a on biometric and physiological parameters and yield of vegetable pea varieties. The experiment was carried out at Krymsk Experiment Breeding Station – a branch of VIR (Krasnodar Region, Krymsk). We studied six commercial cultivar: Prima, Mayak, Alpha 2, Vesta, Parus (leafless morphotype) and Patriot. The seeds were treated the day before sowing with an aqueous solution of the biopreparation Rhizotorfin (produced by ECOS BIOPREPARATIONS, St.Petersburg) and with water in the control variant.Results. The use of the preparation had a growth-stimulating effect on vegetable pea plants. An increase in the length of plants, the height of attachment of the lower pod and the number of completed pods on the plant was found. An increase in the content of dry matter in the total biomass of plants, stems with leaves and pods was noted when using Rhizotorfin. Also, inoculation with rhizobacteria contributed to an increase in yield. The effectiveness of the biopreparation depended on the conditions of the year. The maximum difference between the values of the studied traits for the control and treatment variants was in 2023 - with a uniform distribution of precipitation and optimal temperatures during the growing season. A genotype-dependent reaction of vegetable pea plants to seed treatment with bacteria Rhizobium leguminosarum strain 245a was revealed. The most responsive to additional inoculation is the variety Parus of the leafless morphotype. The values of most biometric and physiological traits and yield in this genotype were significantly higher in the variant with the use of the Rhizotorfin biopreparation. Based on the results obtained, we recommend using the Rhizotorfin biopreparation when growing the variety Parus for commercial production.