Abstract
Two field experiments were conducted on farmers' fields in Northeast Thailand to examine the potential of several green manure and short-duration grain legume species as pre-rice green manures. The performance of species mixtures was also investigated. Experiments were conducted under rainfed conditions both with and without recommended applications of lime, P and K fertilizers. 15N-isotope methods were used to estimate N2-fixation in the legumes and N supplied by the legume residues to a following rice crop.
When provided with lime, P and K fertilizer, all legumes grew well and fixed 65–85% of their N, amounting to 59–102 kg N ha-1 wihin 90 days. The short-duration groundnut and a mixed Sesbania rostrata and multi-purpose cowpea treatment produced over 4 tonnes ha-1 residue dry weight which contained 135–150 kg N ha-1. In addition groundnut yielded almost 2 tonnes ha-1 of grain, whilst the intercrop yielded 1 t ha-1 of fresh pods of MCP, only 35% less than the sole MCP which only produced 41 kg N ha-1 in its stover. Rice dry weight increases of over 50% were found after several of the legume treatments, and 15N-based estimates indicated up to 18 kg N ha-1 was directly supplied by the legume stover to the rice. Without fertilizer application residue yields of the S. rostrata + multi-purpose cowpea mixed crop were poor (580 kg ha-1) and N2-fixation contributed only 57% of the N accumulated (20 kg N ha-1 fixed). The application of P and K fertilizers was found to approximately double residue yields with the combined addition of lime more than doubling these yields again, resulting in 88% of the legume N derived from N2-fixation (84 kg N ha-1). The following rice recovered 9–17% of the added legume N and the yield response in rice reflected the differences in legume yield. Application of P,K and lime resulted in a fivefold increase in the amount of legume N recovered by rice, indicating the importance of alleviating nutrient deficiencies through fertilizer application if green manures are to be used successfully in Northeast Thailand.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alazard D and Duhoux E 1987 Nitrogen-fixing stem nodules on Aeschynomene afraspera. Biol. Fert. Soils 4, 61–66.
Becker M, J KLadha and M Ali 1995 Green manure technology: Potential, usage and limitations. A case for lowland rice. Plant and Soil 174, 181–184.
Becker M, Ladha J K and Ottow J C G 1990 Growth and N2-fixation of two stem-nodulating legumes and their effects as green manure on lowland rice. Soil Biol. Biochem. 22, 1109–1119.
Becker M, Diekmann K H, Ladha J K, DeDatta S K and Ottow J C G 1991 Effect of NPK on growth and nitrogen-fixation of Sesbania rostrata as a green manure for lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.). Plant and Soil 132, 149–158.
Beri V, Meelu O P and Khind C S 1989 Biomass production, N-accumulation, symbiotic effectiveness and mineralization of green manures in relation to yield of wetland rice. Trop. Agric. 66, 11–16.
Bremer E and VanKessel C 1992 Plant-available nitrogen from lentil and wheat residues during a subsequent growing-season. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 56, 1155–1160.
Buresh R J, Woodhead T, Shepherd K D, Flordelis E and Cabangon R C 1989 Nitrate accumulation and loss in a mungbean/lowland rice cropping system. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 53, 477–482.
Furoc R E and Morris R A 1989 Apparent recovery and physiological efficiency of nitrogen in Sesbania incorporated before rice. Agron. J. 81, 797–802.
George T, Ladha J K, Buresh R J and Garrity D P 1993 Nitrate dynamics during the aerobic soil phase in lowland rice-based cropping systems. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 57, 526–1532.
Giller K E and Cadisch G 1995 Future benefits from biological nitrogen fixation: An ecological approach to agriculture. Plant and Soil (In press).
Giller K E and Wilson K J 1991 Nitrogen Fixation in Tropical Cropping Systems. CAB International, Wallingford. 313p.
Giller K E and Witty J F 1987 Immobilized 15N-fertilizer sources improve the accuracy of field estimates of N2-fixation by isotopedilution. Soil Biol. Biochem. 19, 459–463.
Ito O and Watanabe I 1985 Availability to rice plants of nitrogen fixed by Azolla. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. 31, 91–104.
Ladha J K, Pareek R P, So R and Becker M 1990 Stem-nodule symbiosis and its unusual properties. In Nitrogen Fixation: Achievements and Objectives. Eds. G Stacey and W E Newton. pp 633–640. Chapman and Hall, New York.
Ladha J K, Watanabe I and Saono S 1988 Nitrogen fixation by leguminous green manure and practices for its enhancement in tropical lowland rice. In Sustainable Agriculture: Green Manure in Rice Farming. pp 165–183. The International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines.
McDonagh J F 1993 Nitrogen benefits from legumes to cropping systems in Northeast Thailand. PhD thesis, London University.
McDonagh J F, Toomsan B, Limpinuntana V and Giller K E 1993. Estimates of the residual nitrogen benefit of groundnut to maize in Northeast Thailand. Plant and Soil 154, 267–277.
McDonagh J F, Toomsan B, Limpinuntana V and Giller K E 1995. Grain legumes and green manures as pre-rice crops in Northeast Thailand. II. Residue decomposition. Plant and Soil 177, 127–136.
Morris R A, Furoc R E and Dizon M A 1986a Rice responses to a short-duration green manure. 1. Grain-yield. Agron. J. 78, 409–412.
Morris R A, Furoc R E and Dizon M A 1986b Rice responses to a short-duration green manure. 2. N recovery and utilization. Agron. J., 78, 413–416.
Palm O, Weerakoon W L, Desilva M A P and Rosswall T 1988 Nitrogen mineralization of Sesbania sesban used as green manure for lowland rice in Sri-Lanka. Plant and Soil 108, 201–209.
Pareek R P, Ladha J K and Watanabe I 1990 Estimating N2-fixation by Sesbania rostrata and S. cannabina (syn. S. aculeata) in lowland rice soil by the 15N dilution method. Biol. Fert. Soils 10, 77–88.
Payne R W 1987 Genstat 5 Reference Manual., Clarendon Press, Oxford. 749p.
Rinaudo G, Dreyfus B and Dommergues Y 1988 Sesbania rostrata, a green manure, and the nitrogen content of rice crop and soil. Soil Biol. Biochem 15, 111–113.
Toomsan B, McDonagh J F, Limpinuntana V and Giller K E 1995 Nitrogen fixation by groundnut and soyabean and residual nitrogen benefits to rice in farmers' fields in Northeast Thailand. Plant and Soil.
Vallis I 1983 Uptake by grass and transfer to soil of nitrogen from 15N-labelled legume materials applied to a rhodes grass pasture. Austr. J. Agric. Res. 34, 367–376.
Watanabe I, Ventura W, Mascarina G and Eskew D L 1989 Fate of Azolla spp. and urea nitrogen applied to wetland rice (Oryza sativa L.). Biol. Fert. Soils 8, 102–110.
Watson J S 1994 Soil organic matter management in Thailand. In Soil Science and Sustainable Land Management in the Tropics. Eds. J K Syers and D L Rimmer. pp 206–214 CAB International, Wallingford.
Witty J F and Giller K E 1991 Evaluation of errors in the measurement of biological nitrogen fixation using 15N fertilizer. In Stable Isotopes in Plant Nutrition, Soil Fertility and Environmental Studies. pp 59–72. FAO/IAEA, Vienna.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McDonagh, J.F., Toomsan, B., Limpinuntana, V. et al. Grain legumes and green manures as pre-rice crops in Northeast Thailand. Plant Soil 177, 111–126 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010342
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010342