Poor availability of phosphorus (P) in calcareous soil is one of the main reasons for low chickpea productivity. The high pH and calcium in calcareous soil fix the P making it unavailable to the crop. Furthermore, if the availability of P is increased from a comparatively cheaper source of P, the farmers’ cost of production could be decreased. We hypothesized that proper management of P sources like rock phosphate (RP) and single superphosphate (SSP), phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB), and rhizobium could improve the solubility and availability of P for higher chickpea yield. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement, using four replications. P sources in different ratios (RP:SSP; 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, 100:0) were assigned to the main plot, while combinations of PSB and rhizobium into a subplot. The results revealed that among P source ratios (RP:SSP), 0:100 and 25:75 exerted a significant effect on chickpea phenology, nodulation, yield contributing traits, total P uptake, and increased seed yield by 63% and 53% as compared to 100:0 across the years, respectively. Early development, higher nodule biomass, yield contributing traits, and P uptake along with an increase of 16% in seed yield were obtained in PSB applied plots than without PSB. Seed inoculation with rhizobium improved all the studied traits, delayed flowering and maturity, and increased seed yield by 17% than without rhizobium. The findings suggested that PSB solubilized the poor available P from RP in combination with SSP which could improve the efficiency of rhizobium in nodulation, seed yield, and P uptake of chickpea. Thus, phosphorus source ratio (RP:SSP) of 25:75 along with PSB and rhizobium are recommended for higher productivity of chickpea in calcareous soils of Pakistan.
