Tribenuron-methyl is used extensively in Iranian cereal cropping systems under rainfed conditions. However, there is little information on the soil persistence and carryover of this herbicide and its phytotoxicity to subsequent crops in the rotation. This study was carried out with the aim of investigating the sensitivity of different chickpea cultivars to tribenuron-methyl and also finding alternative crops. In field experiments, the chickpea fields of Ravansar County, Kermanshah province, Iran were monitored during 2023-2022, and the growth of chickpea in response to residues of tribenuron-methyl used in the previous wheat crop was evaluated. Furthermore, in a greenhouse experiment, the effect of various concentrations of tribenuron-methyl on the growth of chickpeas, lentil and common vetch was investigated. In all the investigated species in this study, presence of tribenuron-methyl decreased plant growth. Ttotally, among examined crop species, lentil had a higher tolerance to tribenuron-methyl followed by common vetch and chickpea varieties. Bivanij chickpea variety was more sensitive to the residues of tribenuron-methyl in the soil (30% reduction in grain yield) when compared to the other two varieties, namely Mansour and Adel. Based on the results of this study, residues of tribenuron-methyl applied in wheat fields is the main responsible factor reducing the height of chickpea in rai-fed cropping systems of western Iran. It is recommended to replace lentil and common vetch with chickpeas in rotation with wheat in soils heavily contaminated with the residues of tribenuron-methyl.

Variable and sometimes contrasting effects of using artificial rhizobium inocula to increase grain legume performance have been reported. The objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis were therefore to (i) estimate the overall effect of rhizobium inocula on grain yield and protein content and (ii) identify potential confounding factors that explain the observed variation. A web of Science database literature search was carried out in 2016. Data from all field experiments, greenhouse and pot experiments that compared grain yields and protein contents in Rhizobium/Bradyrhizobium-inoculated with non-inoculated control crops were extracted and analyzed using previously described unweighted and weighted meta-analysis protocols. GRADE assessments of the strength of evidence of results from the weighted meta-analyses were carried which included an assessment of the risk of publication bias. Results: For unweighted meta-analyses we identified eligible data in 236 and 36 studies for grain yield and protein content respectively. For weighted meta-analyses we identified eligible data in 92 and 8 studies for grain yield and protein content respectively. Rhizobium inoculation was found to (i) significantly increase grain yield in both the unweighted (mean percent difference: 41%, 95%CI 36,46, p<0.0001) and weighted meta-analysis (Standardized mean difference: 1.56, 95%CI 1.26,1.87, p<0.0001) and (ii) significantly increase protein content in the unweighted meta-analysis (mean percent difference: 11%, 95%CI 5,18, p<0.0001), but not the weighed meta-analyses which only detected a trend (0.1>p>0.05) towards higher protein content in inoculated grain legume crops. Multi-level model-based weighted meta-analyses suggest that the (i) type of experiment, (ii) type of fertilizer used in experiments, (iii) grain legume type/species and (iv) the country in which experiments were carried out, were confounding factors. The main limitation of the evidence is that a large number of publications did not report measures of variation and could therefore not be included in the more scientifically sound weighted meta-analyses. However based on the large evidence-base available for grain yield it can be concluded that overall Bradyrhizobium/Rhizobium seed inoculation results can increase grain yield by ~40% compared with non-inoculated grain legume crops.