Genotypic variability in nutrient uptake and use efficiency in chickpea grown under low phosphorus availability in a Mediterranean climate

Abstract

Low phosphorus (P) availability is a major constraint for chickpea production. Consequently, P-efficient genotypes can improve productivity under conditions where the higher application of P is not economical. This study was conducted to characterise four chickpea genotypes for nutrient uptake and use efficiency under low-P conditions over two growing seasons. At flowering stage, plants were harvested and analysed for their nodulation, growth, P content and yield. Results indicate that low P availability significantly limited plant growth, nodulation and yield for all genotypes with the greatest effect on for Flip 84-92C and Flip 01-29C. The genotypes Flip 90-13C and ILC 32-79 showed the highest P uptake and use efficiency. The genotypes with high nutrient uptake had better efficiency in use of rhizobial symbiosis. It is concluded that nutrient uptake and use efficiency may be an important functional trait that may contribute to the selection of cultivars able to produce high quality seeds and efficiently fix nitrogen under conditions of low soil P.