Abstract
Lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) is one of the important pulse crops in semiarid agro-ecological zones with a Mediterranean-type climate. Terminal drought stress and poor plant nutrition are important factors limiting crop under these regions. The effects of enzymatic biofertiliser (MOG) application at sowing time or during reproductive stage on some morphological traits and yield components of eight lentil lines were evaluated under deficit-irrigation conditions at Maragheh (37°23' N; 46°16' E) in northwestern Iran. Results revealed that application of biofertiliser did not significantly affect most of the morphological traits. However, foliar application of MOG during early flowering stage somewhat increased 100-grain weight and grain yield and decreased the number of empty pod per plant. Moreover, the results indicated that there was significant diversity between lentil lines for the investigated traits. The best performance for grain yield was recorded for FLIP 86-35L. The overall lack of considerable response of lentil to the MOG treatments may suggest that the optimal efficiency of biofertiliser cannot be achieved under water scarcity conditions. Improvement in the adaptation of enzymatic fertilisers to semi arid regions with terminal drought stress requires to be increased.