Field pea (Pisum sativum L.) is the second most important grain legume after the soybean, which is produced for the consumption of domestic animals. Besides grains rich in protein, the most important characteristic of the pea is its symbiosis with bacteria of the genus Rhizobium, which positively influences the yield and fertility of the soil. In 2017, 658 hectares of peas were sown in Slovenia with a yield of 2,700 kg of dry grain per hectare. Because of the need for bigger yields with higher quality, farmers throughout the world choose to inoculate field peas with bacterial inoculants, which are applied on the seed before sowing. Inoculation is expected to increase the yield by 20 %. At the experimental field of the Biotechnical Faculty, we sow two varieties of field pea ('Eso', 'Astronaute') in 2018, which we have inoculated with six different symbiotic inoculants. The aim of this field experiment was to determine the effect of the symbiotic inoculants on the grain yield. During the growing season, we have been monitoring the development of the plants, we also analyzed root nodulation and assessed the grain yield. The highest yield at 14 percent seed moisture (4580 kg of grain per hectare) and the largest number of husks on the plant (3.7) were recorded for the 'Eso' variety in control 2. Among the used inoculants, the highest yield was achieved with inoculant 6 in the 'Astronaute' variety with 2852 kg of grain per hectare, and the lowest yield had inoculant 5 in the 'Eso' variety with 823 kg of grain per hectare. The highest absolute mass had 'Astronaute' variety (339 g) inoculated with inoculant 1. The largest number of nodules per plant (30.1) was formed at inoculant 6. The growth and yield was strongly influenced by soils that were poorly drained. On some plots all plants were destroyed during growth season, the yield was also reduced during ripening by the pigeons that pecked the grains.
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