Symbiotic efficiency of Sesbania rostrata and S. cannabina as affected by agronomic practices

A field experiment was conducted to study the N2 fixation efficiency of Sesbania rostrata and S. cannabina as affected by agronomic practices in semi-arid subtropical climate. Sowing seeds resulted in smaller numbers of nodules, lower dry weight, lower total biomass, less N uptake, and less N2 fixat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology and fertility of soils 1996-02, Vol.21 (3), p.149-151
Main Authors: Patel, L.B, Sidhu, B.S, Beri, V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
biofertilizers
Biological and medical sciences
biomass production
Biotechnology
dry matter accumulation
Economic plant physiology
efficiency
flooding
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agronomy. Plant production
green manures
irrigated conditions
leaves
Microbial ecology
mineral uptake
nitrogen
nitrogen content
nitrogen fixation
nodulation
Other nutrients. Amendments. Solid and liquid wastes. Sludges and slurries
planting stock
Rhizobium
root nodules
roots
seeds
semiarid zones
Sesbania
Sesbania cannabina
shoot cuttings
shoots
Soil
Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility. Fertilization. Amendments
stem nodules
subtropics
symbiosis
Symbiosis (nodules, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, mycorrhiza...)
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Summary:A field experiment was conducted to study the N2 fixation efficiency of Sesbania rostrata and S. cannabina as affected by agronomic practices in semi-arid subtropical climate. Sowing seeds resulted in smaller numbers of nodules, lower dry weight, lower total biomass, less N uptake, and less N2 fixation for S. rostrata than S. cannabina, while cut-stem planting improved the symbiotic efficiency. Flooding the soil increased the relative humidity of the crop micro-environment by 4-11% and induced early appearance of stem nodules in S. rostrata. Only 67 kg N ha-1 was fixed by S. rostrata compared to 160 kg N ha-1 by S. cannabina when normal agronomic practices (sowing and non-flooding) were followed. In contrast, planting stem cuttings and flooding resulted in greater biological N2 fixation, 307 and 209 kg N ha-1 by S. rostrata and S. cannabina, respectively. Therefore, S. rostrata can be successfully exploited as a green manure when stem cuttings are planted under flooded conditions.
ISSN:0178-2762
1432-0789
DOI:10.1007/BF00335926