Abstract
Lentil, a major grain legume in the Mediterranean region, grows under rainfed conditions, on alkaline, P-poor soils where cultivar and rhizosphere microbes may determine nutrient uptake and seed yield (SY). Four cultivars (‘Samos’, ‘Thessaly’, ‘Ikaria’, ‘Flip’) were grown under four P rates (0, 13.1, 26.2, 39.3 kg P ha−1) for two growing seasons to determine optimum P rates and traits determining SY. Rates up to 26.2 kg P ha−1 increased SY via increasing aboveground biomass at full bloom (DW), P concentration and number of pods/plant. Phosphorus affected alkaline phosphatase activity (ALPase) but not N2-fixation (%Ndfa), arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization (AMF) and acid phosphatase activity (APase). The early-maturing cv. ‘Flip’ outperformed escaping thermal and water stress during reproduction and allocating more biomass to reproduction, thus showing increased number of pods/plant and harvest index. ‘Flip’ had high N (41.2) and P (2.88 mg kg−1) concentrations, but low DW (289.7 g m−2), %Ndfa (63.6%), AMF (39.6%) and ALPase (257.50 PN μg g−1 h−1). In the wetter and cooler growing season of 2015, SY (434.56 g m−2), yield components and AMF (49.4%) were higher, but ALPase (258.00 PN μg g−1 h−1) and APase (131.45 PN μg g−1 h−1) were lower than 2014. After removal of lentil straw at harvest, soil residual NO3-N and P-Olsen did not differ among cultivars, however, in the wetter 2015 both were higher compared to 2014. Thus, application of 26.2 P ha−1 and an early-maturing cultivar increased SY due to increased fruiting without compromising %Ndfa, AMF and APase.
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Acknowledgements
We thank B. Harlow, Washington State University, School of Biological Sciences, Pullman, WA, USA for the isotope determinations, Dr. G. Zanakis, PIONEER HI-BRED HELLAS SA, Thessaloniki, Greece for providing the barley seeds, Dr. D. Vlachostergios, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-‘Demeter’, Institute of Industrial and Fodder Crops, Larissa, Greece for kindly offering the seeds of lentil accessions and Dr. D. Baxevanos, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-‘Demeter’, Institute of Industrial and Fodder Crops, Larissa, Greece for his help with the statistics.
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Theologidou, G.S., Ipsilantis, I. & Tsialtas, I.T. Phosphorus effects on four lentil cultivars grown on alkaline Mediterranean soil. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 125, 1–14 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-022-10247-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-022-10247-9