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Leguminous trees pass on nitrogen to crops

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Title Leguminous trees pass on nitrogen to crops
 
Creator Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
 
Description Some field studies show that there is improved nodulation on the roots of leguminous trees when they are growing close to nonnitrogen-fixing plants. Moreover this increased nodulation may mean that nitrogen is being transferred directly to the roots of the non-leguminous plants.



This hypothesis was discussed at a meeting in Nairobi which was organized by the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM). It may upset one of the criteria for selecting trees for intercropping: ensuring that the roots of the tree should grow deeper than those of the crop.



Studies in a coffee plantation showed that the roots of the leguminous tree, Inga jinicuil, were concentrated around the trunks of coffee trees, within or just below the litter layer. In a mixed Casuarina-Eucalyptus plantation in S.E.China, Casuarina roots with abundant nodules were found to be growing amongst the Eucalyptus roots. More evidence has been found in Indonesia, and in Nigeria it has been found that the roots of Leucaena leucocephala were growing amongst cassava roots in an alley cropping system. In Senegal one observer was surprised to find that roots of Albizia lebbeck had travelled 15 metres to become intertwined with sorghum roots.



ICRAF and IBSRAM are hoping that interest in this matter will be raised and that this will lead to further studies.



Dr.M.van Noordwijk,Institute for Soil Fertility

Research, Haren, THE NEDERLANDS
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Date 2014-10-08T13:41:01Z
2014-10-08T13:41:01Z
1991
 
Type News Item
 
Identifier CTA. 1991. Leguminous trees pass on nitrogen to crops. Spore 33. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
1011-0054
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/45528
 
Language en
 
Relation Spore, Spore 33
 
Publisher CTA
 
Source Spore