Isolation and Biochemical Characterization of Indigenous Rhizbium from Root nodules of Field Pea (Pisum Sativum L.) and Assessing their Bioinculant Potential for Bursa variety in Tigray, Ethiopia

The world’s population is growing exponentially, and farmers have been using chemical fertilizers to boost crop yields to meet the demand for food. In Tigray, food security is still challenging. The region has been using inappropriate amount of Urea and DAP as a primary sources of fertilizer since 1960s to maintain this difficulty. Long-term overuse of chemical fertilizers caused soil infertility, and raising serious concerns about agriculture’s future. This study was focused on creation of local biofertilizer as an alternative for chemical fertilizers for sustainable farming in the area. About 50 root nodules of pea samples were collected from two zones of Tigray. The samples were subjected to biochemical and standard confirmatory testing. As a result, 21 Rhizobia isolates were identified. Out of 21, seven potent isolates were screened based on in-vitro and colony forming unit’s tests, and grown in a broth culture. Finally, Bursa seed varieties were inoculated with biofertilizers and grown in greenhouse to see how they affected the crop’s growth parameters. According to the study’s findings, Bursa seeds inoculated with biofertilizer significantly impacted the bursa growth parameters when compared to the control. Highest mean on shoot length (33.55 ± 1.37) cm, root length (18.08 ± 0.38) cm, chlorophyll content (3.19 ± 0.3) mg, and dry shoot weight (1.32 ± 0.02) mg was recorded on T ₅ which treated with Rhizobium -RS4 biofertilizers. All of the data generated from this study were statistically examined using SPSS version 20 by evaluating the mean and standard deviation at p < 0.05.