The University of Saskatchewan

Published purpose

Pea plants can naturally fill their nitrogen requirements via the noduleforming partnership they establish with N2-fixing bacteria, thus eliminating the need to use nitrogen fertilizers and decreasing the environmental impact of agricultural activity. Canadian field pea producers routinely perform inoculations to maximize the nodulation and atmospheric nitrogen acquisition of their crops. The procedure largely generates the coveted results, but it remains globally characterized by a variable level of efficiency. With the objective of improving the productivity of Canadian farms, this project will involve performing pea variety trials using different Rhizobium leguminosarum inoculants. The trials will be conducted for three consecutive years in two Saskatchewan locations that are representative of major Canadian Prairie field pea production areas (i.e. by soil type and precipitation level). Multiple parameters describing soil physicochemical status, natural R. leguminosarum soil diversity and total abundance, plant nodulation, inoculant nodule occupancy, and plant seed output will be assessed in addition to the key field pea productivity parameters ‘nodulation efficiency’ and ‘percentage nitrogen derived from atmosphere’. Laboratory experiments will also be conducted in parallel to assess associated plant root exudate and inoculant Nod factor production. The resulting multifaceted dataset will be mined to uncover plant and inoculant features that could potentially be optimized.