Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T18:57:38.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Rhizobium Inoculation Increases of Bean and Maize Yields in Intercrops on Farms in the Peruvian Sierra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

P. Pineda
Affiliation:
Centro International de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), AA 6713, Cali, Colombia
J. A. Kipe-Nolt
Affiliation:
Centro International de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), AA 6713, Cali, Colombia
E. Rojas
Affiliation:
CIAT, Angamos #425, Cajamarca, Peru

Summary

Nitrogen deficiency severely limits production of the bean–maize association grown by small-scale farmers in upland Peru. Sixty-four bean Rhizobium isolates were evaluated for induction of a plant growth response in pots of soil from the area and 14 of the most promising strains of these were tested on farmers' fields in 13 trials over a three year period. Bean yields were increased by inoculation with at least one Rhizobium strain in seven of the trials, with increases ranging from 0.21 to 0.68 t ha−1. Bean yields were not increased by the application of 120 kg N ha−1 to the intercrop. Maize yields were increased by Rhizobium inoculation in nine of the 13 trials by between 0.34 and 1.85 t ha−1. Maize responded to nitrogen fertilizer on the same nine farms. This Rhizobium selection strategy, although laborious, was effective in identifying strains that can be recommended for use as inoculants by farmers in the region.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adams, M. W., Coyne, D. P., Davis, J. H. C., Graham, D. H. & Francis, C. A. (1985). Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). In Grain Legume Crops, 433476 (Eds Summerfield, R. J. and Roberts, E. H.). London: Collins.Google Scholar
CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical) (1987). Annual Report of the Bean Program. Colombia: CIAT.Google Scholar
Eaglesham, A. R., Ayanaba, A., Ranga Rao, V. & Eskew, D. L. (1981). Improving the nitrogen nutrition of maize by intercropping with cowpea. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 13:169171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giller, K. E., Ormesher, J. & Awah, F. M. (1991). Nitrogen transfer from Phaseolus bean to intercropped maize measured using 15N-enrichment and 15N-isotope dilution methods. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 23:339346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamel, C., Barrantes-Cartin, U., Furlan, V. & Smith, D. L. (1991). Endomycorrhizal fungi in nitrogen transfer from soybean to maize. Plant and Soil 138:3340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, R. C., Voldeng, H. D. & Smith, D. L. (1991). Nitrogen transfer from nodulating soybean to maize or to nonnodulating soybean in intercrops: the 15N dilution method. Plant and Soil 132:5363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novozamosky, I., van Eck, R., van Schuwenburg, J. C. & Walinga, I. (1974). Total nitrogen determination in plant material by means of the indophenol-blue method. Netherland Journal of Agricultural Science 22:35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patra, D. D., Sachdev, M. S. & Subbiah, B. V. (1986). 15N studies on the transfer of legume-fixed nitrogen to associated cereals in intercropping systems. Biology and Fertility of Soils 2:165171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pineda, P. & Kipe-Nolt, J. A. (1990). Response of bean varieties to inoculation with selected Rhizobium strains in El Salvador. Turrialba 40:410415.Google Scholar
Rerkasem, K. & Rerkasem, B. (1988). Yield and nitrogen nutrition of intercropped maize and ricebean (Vigna umbellata Thumb. Ohwi and Ohashi). Plant and Soil 108:151162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruiz de Londoño, N. & Janssen, W. (1990). Un Caso de Adopción de Tecnologia: La, Variedad de Frijol Gloriabamba en Perú. Colombia: CIAT.Google Scholar
Sylvester-Bradley, R., Mosquera, D. & Mendez, J. E. (1988) Selection of rhizobia for inoculation of forage legumes in savanna and rainforest soils of tropical America. In Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, 225233 (Eds Beck, D. P. and Materon, L. A.). Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Kessel, C. & Roskoski, J. P. (1988). Row spacing effects on N2-fixation, N-yield and soil N uptake of intercropped cowpea and maize. Plant and Soil 111:1723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar