The aim of this paper was at evaluating the ontogeny of nodulation in two cultivars of cowpea. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse and was used the cultivars BRS-Guariba and BRS-Marataoã cultivated in plastic pots with 5 kg of sand. The mineral fertilization, without N, was made before the sowing and the seeds were inoculated with Bradyrhizobium sp, strain BR 2001. The evaluations were made to the 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 days after plant emergence, being measured nodule number, dry mass and size and shoot dry mass. The cultivars showed higher nodule number to 30 and 50 days after plant emergence. Nodule dry mass and size increased significantly during the cycle of cultivars. Shoot dry mass increased to stage of formation of pods, decreasing until the end of the phenological cycle. BRS-Guariba and BRS-Marataoã cultivars present similar behavior in relation to nodulation by used strain.
Legumes; N2; fixation; Bradyrhizobium
