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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 45(3)

Age of peat-based lupin and chickpea inoculants in relation to quality and efficacy

E. J. Hartley A , L. G. Gemell A , J. F. Slattery B , J. G. Howieson C and D. F. Herridge D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A NSW Department of Primary Industries, HRI, Gosford, NSW 2250, Australia.

B Department of Primary Industries, Rutherglen Research Institute, RMB 1145, Rutherglen, Vic. 3685, Australia.

C Centre for Rhizobium Studies, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.

D NSW Department of Primary Industries, RMB 944, Tamworth, NSW 2340, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: david.herridge@agric.nsw.gov.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45(3) 183-188 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA03158
Submitted: 6 August 2003  Accepted: 30 November 2003   Published: 14 April 2005

Abstract

Extension of the current 12-month expiry of rhizobial inoculants in Australia to 18 months would have commercial benefits for the manufacturers and resellers. The dilemma, however, is that numbers of rhizobia in the inoculants decline over time and individual cells may lose efficacy. The research undertaken in this study shows the effect of lupin and chickpea inoculant age (i.e. 0, 6, 12, 15 and 18 months old) on numbers of rhizobia, rhizobial cell characteristics and efficacy. For the latter, assessments included colony size on plates, survival on inoculated beads, and infectiveness and effectiveness in field experiments at 3 sites.

Assessment of commercially produced inoculants at the Australian Legume Inoculants Research Unit (ALIRU) laboratory indicated that, on average, chickpea and lupin inoculants had counts of about log10 9.6 when fresh, delivering >log10 6 rhizobia/seed. At 12 months, the average counts had fallen to log10 9.4, delivering slightly less than log10 6 rhizobia/seed. By 18 months, average counts were log10 9.3, delivering log10 5.9 rhizobia/seed. The lines of best fit indicated decline rates of 0.0005 log10 units/day. We found no evidence that the rhizobia in the older inoculants (i.e. >12 months old) had lost any ability to grow on nutrient agar, survive on inoculated beads, and nodulate and fix nitrogen with the host plant. While the chickpea and lupin inoculants produced currently in Australia are as efficacious after 18 months of storage at 4°C as they are when fresh, efficacy of other inoculant types may fall below acceptable levels at <12 months.

Additional keywords: legume, nodulation, rhizobia, shelf life.


Acknowledgments

We thank Alan Thirlwell, the owner of ‘Glen Lea’, for providing the field site for the NSW experiment. We acknowledge the skilled technical support of David Pearce and Ron Yates. NSW Agriculture, DPI Rutherglen, CRS Murdoch University and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) provided the financial support, which was delivered through the National Rhizobium Program.


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