SELECTION OF SUITABLE GENOTYPES OF LENTIL (Lens culinaris MEDIK.) TOLERANT TO PHOSPHORUS DEFICIENCY.

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a popular Mediterranean legume crop grown for its nutritious seeds and to improve soil fertility. Lentil yield is a critical and difficult trait to improve in crop genetics because it is influenced by various factors that negatively affect seed yields and quality traits. The main constraint to legume production and symbiotic nitrogen fixation is the soil's insufficient phosphorus (P) availability. This P-deficiency also affects rhizobia multiplication in the rhizosphere, reducing the likelihood of infection and nodule growth. The primary goal of this study is to determine the degree of adaptation of lentils to Pdeficiency to select the best genotypes grown, considering growth rate, grain yield, and efficiency in the use of rhizobial symbiosis. In this context, we are investigating the behavior of some lentil genotypes grown in the Khemis Miliana (Algeria) area over two growing seasons, 2018 and 2019. The results show that yield values vary between genotypes, ranging from 500 to 1200 kgha-1; specifically, the genotypes 'Large blonde and 'Ibla 1 recorded the highest yield over two growing seasons. Furthermore, efficiency in the use of the rhizobial symbiosis of lentils was higher for 'Djendel during the 2018 season (1.57 g shoot DWg-1 nodule DW) than for 'Large blonde (0.2 g shoot DWg-1 nodule DW). The genotypes chosen for their P usage efficiency had higher yields and were the best at dealing with low P availability in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]