Summary
The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is generally regarded as a poor N2 fixer. This study assessed the sources of N (fertilizer, soil, and fixed N), N partitioning and mobilization, and soil N balance under field conditions in an indeterminate-type climbing bean (P. vulgaris L. cv. Cipro) at the vegetative, early pod-filling, and physiological maturity stages, using the A-value approach. This involved the application of 10 and 100 kg N ha-1 of 15N-labelled ammonium sulphate to the climbing bean and a reference crop, maize (Zea mays L.). At the late pod-filling stage (75 days after planting) the climbing bean had accumulated 119 kg N ha-1, 84% being derived from fixation, 16% from soil, and only 0.2% from the 15N fertilizer. N2 fixation was generally high at all stages of plant growth, but the maximum fixation (74% of the total N2 fixed) occurred during the interval between early (55 days after planting) and late podfilling. The N2 fixed between 55 and 75 days after planting bas a major source (88%) of the N demand of the developing pod, and only about 11% was contributed from the soil. There was essentially no mobilization of N from the shoots or roots for pod development. The cultivation of common bean cultivars that maintain a high N2-fixing capacity especially during pod filling, satisfying almost all the N needs of the developing pod and thus requiring little or no mobilization of N from the shoots for pod development, may lead to a net positive soil N balance.
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Kumarasinghe, K.S., Danso, S.K.A. & Zapata, F. Field evaluation of N2 fixation and N partitioning in climbing bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) using 15N. Biol Fertil Soils 13, 142–146 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336269
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336269