The present study aimed to assess the impact of seed Rhizobia treatment and potyvirus inoculation on bacterial nodulation and nitrogen fixation in cowpeas. The plants were infected with the virus two weeks post-germination. Nodules were present on the roots of plants treated with Rhizobia; however, almost no nodules were detected on untreated plants. The average number of nodules per plant on virus-inoculated plants was significantly lower than the average number per noninoculated plant. The virus caused a substantial decrease in the weight of nodules also. The study revealed that the presence of Rhizobia resulted in a significant rise in nitrogen content in the foliage. Specifically, the nitrogen percentage increased from 1.29% in plants not treated with Rhizobia and not inoculated by the virus to 2.502% in Rhizobia-treated plants that were inoculated by the virus and to 2.550% in Rhizobia-treated plants that were not inoculated by the virus. This difference was statistically significant at a p-value less than 0.05. The virus resulted in a rise in nitrogen content in plants that were not inoculated with Rhizobia. The Rhizobia resulted in a significant augmentation in the number of pods per plant, seed count per plant, and seed dry weight per plant compared to plants that were not treated with Rhizobia. The application of Rhizobia to virus-inoculated plants resulted in a notable enhancement of these parameters, except for the nitrogen content in seeds
