Crop-rhizobium symbiosis can be influenced by leaching of herbicides which is unavoidable after their application. Due to an adjuvant which might help to develop the low-use-rate of herbicide, an experiment was carried out to compare the impact of the recommended rate (1200 g active ingredient ha-1) and the optimized rate (282.15 g active ingredient ha-1) of pyridate on the biological properties of eight chickpea cultivars inoculated with Mesorhizobium mediterraneum, grown in pots. Based on the required rate of herbicide to give 95% control of common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) value, the efficacy of pyridate improved up to 3.87-fold by adding methylated rapeseed oil to spray solution. The ‘Desi’ cultivar had significantly higher nodulation than ‘Kabuli’ cultivar. In general, toxicity of the recommended rate was higher than the optimized rate. With the exception of root dry weight, all of the measured parameters were significantly affected by the recommended rate of pyridate in varying degrees. The symbiotic properties of chickpea cultivars were affected more than 10% at the recommended dose. The reduced nodulation ranged from 29% to 73% among cultivars exposed to pyridate at the recommended dose. The ‘Desi’ cultivar was more sensitive than the ‘Kabuli’ to the recommended rate of pyridate. We may conclude that effective low-use-rate of pyridate via applying of activator adjuvants should be noted. Keywords: adjuvant, herbicide, Mesorhizobium mediterraneum, nodulation, toxicity

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