ProCrop

Field Pea Inoculation

Field pea is a legume crop that will fix the majority of its required nitrogen (N) if the seed is properly inoculated and the environmental conditions are favorable for crop growth. The bacteria inoculant required by field pea is a type C (Rhizobium leguminosarum - Biovar viceae).

A trial was initiated in 1995 at the Carrington Research Extension Center to examine the use of inoculants and/or N fertilizer for field pea production. The trial site had an initial level of 20 lb N/acre in the top two feet of the soil profile. Peat-based inoculants 'Nitrogen' and 'Sowfast' were used in the trial.

The results from the first year of this trial indicate that field pea seed yield improved with inoculated seed and/or N fertilizer compared to the untreated check. yields with inoculants were similar to the yield with 90 lb N fertilizer/acre. At a cost of $2 to 3/acre for inoculant compared to $18 to 27/acre for the 90 lb of N fertilizer, the use of inoculants can substantially reduce production costs without sacrificing yield.

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