Testing Three Strains of Rhizobia On Two Groundnut Varieties at NaSARRI and Kumi TVC in 2009.

Groundnuts ( Arachis hypogoea) production in Uganda face a number of constraints ranging from biotic factors such as pests, diseases, weeds, variety attributes, etc and abiotic factors such as changing climatic conditions and declining soil fertility. As a legume, groundnuts fix nitrogen from the air with help from groundnut-specific Rhizobia. The groundnut plant supplies the Rhizobia with an environment and nutrients in which to survive and multiply. In turn, the bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that can be used by the plant through a process called nitrogen fixation. Inoculation is the placement ofRhizobia either directly on the seed or into the soil in close proximity to the seed. This practice helps improve yields but also saves on the cost farmers would pay on fertilizers.

The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of three strains of rhizobia on the performance of two commercial groundnut varieties as compared to use of Single superphosphate fertilizers on the crop.