ASSESSMENT OF NITROGEN FIXATION POTENTIAL IN AHIPA (Pachyrhizus ahipa) AND ITS EFFECT ON ROOT AND SEED YIELD

Ahipa is a legume of great interest for the production of raw materials (starch, sugar, oil and proteins) for industrial use. Its yield potential and ability to fix atmospheric N2 in association with rhizobia makes it an attractive option for low input agriculture systems. At present, it is cultivat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental agriculture 2009-04, Vol.45 (2), p.177-188
Main Authors: RODRÍGUEZ-NAVARRO, D. N., CAMACHO, M., TEMPRANO, F., SANTAMARÍA, C., LEIDI, E. O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural production
Alternative crops
Bacteria
Crop yield
Farming
Farming systems
field experimentation
greenhouse experimentation
Legumes
Nitrogen
nitrogen content
Nitrogen fixation
nodulation
Pachyrhizus
Pachyrhizus ahipa
protein content
Raw materials
Rhizobium
root growth
seed oils
seed productivity
shoots
Soils
strains
sugar content
Sustainable agriculture
symbiosis
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Summary:Ahipa is a legume of great interest for the production of raw materials (starch, sugar, oil and proteins) for industrial use. Its yield potential and ability to fix atmospheric N2 in association with rhizobia makes it an attractive option for low input agriculture systems. At present, it is cultivated on a very small scale as a food crop in a few South American countries. Little information is available on symbiotic N2 fixation in ahipa and no work has been performed on strain selection for inoculant production. Soils in southwest Europe are devoid of specific rhizobia able to nodulate on ahipa. Selecting rhizobia for symbiotic effectiveness from a collection led to the isolation of strains which provided greater shoot growth and N content under controlled conditions. In the field, inoculation at sowing with the selected strains increased significantly seed and tuberous root yield and seed protein content. The amount of N2 fixed, estimated by 15N natural abundance, reached 160–260 kg N ha−1. In previous work, ahipa appeared to be a promising alternative crop for the production of industrial raw materials. The results of the present study showed a yield increase in tuberous roots and seeds when applying effective rhizobia inoculants. Furthermore, a positive soil N balance was left after its cultivation making ahipa even more interesting for sustainable farming systems.
ISSN:0014-4797
1469-4441
DOI:10.1017/S0014479708007461