Effect of combined application of Rhizobium, phosphate solubilizing bacterium and Trichoderma spp. on growth, nutrient uptake and yield of chickpea (Cicer aritenium L.) D.L. Rudresh a, * , M.K. Shivaprakash a , R.D. Prasad b a Department of Agricultural Microbiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore 560065, India b Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India Accepted 14 July 2004 Abstract The effect of a combined inoculation of Rhizobium, a phosphate solubilizing Bacillus megaterium sub sp. phospaticum strain-PB and a biocontrol fungus Trichoderma spp. on growth, nutrient uptake and yield of chickpea were studied under glasshouse and field conditions. Combined inoculation of these three organisms showed increased germination, nutrient uptake, plant height, number of branches, nodulation, pea yield, and total biomass of chickpea compared to either individual inoculations or an uninoculated control. Increased growth and yield parameters were more pronounced when T. harzia- num-PDBCTH 10 was inoculated along with the phosphate solubilizing bacterium and Rhizobium. Studies on population dynamics in the rhizosphere showed, there was no significant inhibition between the introduced organisms. # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Bacillus megaterium; Cicer aritenium L.; Compatibility; Plant growth promotion; Rhizobium; Trichoderma spp. 1. Introduction The inoculation of seeds with Rhizobium is known to increase nodulation, nitrogen uptake, growth and yield response of crop plants (Dorosinsky and Kadyrov, 1975; Patil and Shinde, 1980; Herandez and Hill, 1983). Phosphate solubilizing bacteria are also known to increase phosphorus uptake resulting in better growth and higher yield of crop plants (Bajpai and Sundara Rao, 1971; Gaur et al., 1980; Alagawadi and Gaur, 1988). Trichoderma and Gliocladium have long been known as effective antagonists against soil borne plant pathogenic fungi (Papavizas, 1985; Mukhopadhyay et al., 1986; Chet, 1987; Bennett and Lane, 1992; Kumar and Mukerji, 1996). The combined inoculation of Rhizobium and phosphate solubilizing bacteria has increased nodulation, growth and yield parameters in chickpea (Alagawadi and Gaur, 1988; Gupta and Namdeo, 1997; Jain et al., 1999; Khurana and Sharma, www.elsevier.com/locate/apsoil Applied Soil Ecology 28 (2005) 139–146 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: rudreshdl@hotmail.com (D.L. Rudresh). 0929-1393/$ – see front matter # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2004.07.005