The aim of this work was to evaluate the survival and nodulation of Rhizobium tropici on common bean seeds treated with fungicides. The study was conduced out at laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) seeds were treated with six fungicides and inoculated with Rhizobium tropici strain CIAT 899. The survival of Rhizobium on seeds was evaluated 0 and 24 hours after treatment with fungicides and inoculation, using the most probable number (MPN) method. The nodulation of common bean thirty days after plant emergence, in plantation conduced 0 and 24 hours after seeds treatment with fungicides and inoculation, was evaluated in soil with population of native Rhizobium. The fungicides harmed the survival of inoculated Rhizobium on seeds and, in plantation conduced 24 hours after seeds treatment, reduced the nodulation of common bean. However, nodules were found in all plants, suggesting nodulation by native Rhizobium of soil.
nitrogen fixation; common bean; inoculation
