Effect of pest controlling neem and mata-raton leaf extracts on greenhouse gas emissions from urea-amended soil cultivated with beans: A greenhouse experiment

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2010-10, Vol.408 (21), p.4961-4968
• Main Authors: Méndez-Bautista, Joaquín, Fernández-Luqueño, Fabián, López-Valdez, Fernando, Mendoza-Cristino, Reyna, Montes-Molina, Joaquín A., Gutierrez-Miceli, Federico A., Dendooven, L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Air Pollutants - metabolism; Air pollution; Azadirachta indica; Azadirachta indica (A. Juss.); Beans; Bioinsecticide; Biological and medical sciences; Biological control; Carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - analysis; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change; Control; Dynamics of C and inorganic N; Earth, ocean, space; Emissions control; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Extraction plants; Fabaceae - chemistry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gliricidia sepium; Gliricidia sepium (Jacquin); Glycerides - pharmacology; Insect Repellents - pharmacology; Lambda-cyhalothrin; Meteorology; Nitriles - pharmacology; Nitrogen Dioxide - analysis; Nitrogen Dioxide - metabolism; Nitrous oxides; Pests; Phaseolus - drug effects; Phaseolus - growth & development; Phaseolus - metabolism; Phaseolus vulgaris; Phaseolus vulgaris (L .); Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Protozoa. Invertebrates; Pyrethrins - pharmacology; Soil (material); Soil - analysis; Soil water content; Terpenes - pharmacology; Urea - chemistry; Ureas
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.07.024

In a previous laboratory experiment, extracts of neem ( Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) and Gliricidia sepium Jacquin, locally known as mata-raton, used to control pests on crops, inhibited emissions of CO 2 from a urea-amended soil, but not nitrification and N 2O emissions. We investigated if these extracts when applied to beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L .) affected their development, soil characteristics and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and nitrous oxide (N 2O) in a greenhouse environment. Untreated beans and beans planted with lambda-cyhalothrin, a commercial insecticide, served as controls. After 117 days, shoots of plants cultivated in soil amended with urea or treated with lambda-cyhalothrin, or extracts of neem or G. sepium were significantly higher than when cultivated in the unamended soil, while the roots were significantly longer when plants were amended with urea or treated with leaf extracts of neem or G. sepium than when treated with lambda-cyhalothrin. The number of pods, fresh and dry pod weight and seed yield was significantly higher when bean plants were treated with leaf extracts of neem or G. sepium treatments than when left untreated and unfertilized. The number of seeds was similar for the different treatments. The number of nodules was lower in plants fertilized with urea, treated with leaf extracts of neem or G. sepium, or with lambda-cyhalothrin compared to the unfertilized plants. The concentrations of NH 4 +, NO 2 − and NO 3 − decreased significantly over time with the lowest concentrations generally found at harvest. Treatment had no significant effect on the concentrations of NH 4 + and NO 2 −, but the concentration of NO 3 − was significantly lower in the unfertilized soil compared to the other treatments. It was found that applying extracts of neem or G. sepium leaves to beans favored their development when compared to untreated plants, but had no significant effect on nitrification in soil.