ABSTRACT
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) is the most important food legume after common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) with protein content ranges of 15%–30% and becomes the most significant part of a vegetarian diet to overcome protein deficiency. It plays a very important role in sustentation of the soil fertility through symbiotic nitrogen fixation, but the soil salinization is a very serious threat for diminution of plant growth and yield. Many legume crops including chickpea are severely affected by soil salinization at almost all stages of the plant growth such as germination, vegetative growth, and especially during reproductive processes. To overcome the stress impact, employing salt-tolerant plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is the most promising technique due to their cost-effective and eco-friendly nature. These microbes have the ability to improve salt tolerance of host plants, mitigate salinity, and enhance plant growth even under adverse conditions that results in restoring grain yield. The PGPR-treated crops have been found to enhance plant growth by promoting increased root and shoot growth, dry weight, fruit and seed yield under salt stress condition by mitigating the impact of salt stress.
