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Description
This work aimed at evaluating the biostimulative and biofertilizer effects of silicon (Si) and the rhizobial inoculum on the growth and development of the Moroccan Zahour chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) variety under water deficit conditions. A field experiment was conducted at Beni-Mellal region under three factors: (i) Water irrigation (optimal irrigation versus deficit irrigation); (ii) Si application (plants were treated or not with 1.5 mM CaSiO3) and (iii) The seed coating with rhizobial inoculum. The obtained results indicate that deficit irrigation significantly (p < 0.01) reduced plant biomass, grain yield and disturbs different physiological and biochemical processes governing plant growth and development. However, the Si application significantly (p < 0.01) contracted the negative impacts of deficit irrigation and significantly increased all the studied growth parameters and reduced the contents of malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide and electrolyte leakage. In the same sense, simultaneous application of Si and the seed coating with the rhizobial inoculum reduced the oxidative damages of deficit irrigation by mitigation the negative effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The reduction of ROS contents under the simultaneous treatment with of Si rhizobial inoculum seems to be related to their capacity to modulate superoxide dismutase and polyphenol oxidase activities and to increase total polyphenol and flavonoid contents. Besides, compatible osmolytes, such as proline, glycine betaine and soluble sugars were found to be increased in comparison to Si-untreated and non-inoculated plants. Our findings suggest that the combined use of Si and seed coating with rhizobia constitutes a promising way to mitigate the negative effect of deficit irrigation and to achieve sustainability in chickpea production under dry field conditions.
Keywords: Biofertilizer-Biostimulant; Chickpea; Deficit irrigation; Growth; Rhizobia; Silicon; Yield.
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the CROSYMED Project, funded through the ARIMNet2 2017 Joint Call by the funding agency MESRSFC, Morocco. ARIMNet2 (ERA-NET) has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration under grant agreement no. 618127. The authors are grateful to all those who participated in the elaboration of this study. We thank all the partners involved in CROSYMED-ARIMNet2 Project.
Corresponding author: Prof. FARISSI Mohamed, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Beni-Mellal, Mghila, PO Box. 592, Beni-Mellal 23000, Morocco.
E-mail: farissimohamed@gmail.com / mohamed.farissi@usms.ac.ma
