The effect of use of nitrogen-fixators in forage pea production

Microorganisms are the most numerous group of living organisms in the pedosphere. They encompass bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, protozoa and lichens. Their numbers amount to several million per one gram of absolutely dry soil while their biomass amounts to 5-20 tons per hectare. The aims of this investigation were to examine the effect of application of root nodule bacteria (single strain, mixture of strains, microbiological fertilizer "Nitragin") on the total number of microorganisms, the numbers of fungi actinomycetes, azotobacters, free nitrogen-fixing bacteria and ammonifiers and the activity of dehydrogenase, as well as how the application of bacteria affects some parameters of nitrogen fixation (dry mater mass, percentage and content of nitrogen). In the variant with "Nitragin", the total number of microorganisms and the numbers of fungi, azotobacters and free N-fixing bacteria increased. The largest number of actino-myceles was found in the variant with the mixture of strains. The largest number of ammonifiers was found in the variant with the single strain. The dehydrogenase activity, dry mater mass, percentage and content of nitrogen were increased in the variants with the single strain and the mixture of strains