ALBERT

Notes: Abstract The stem-nodulating tropical legume Sesbania rostrata is a promising green manure species for low input rice-farming systems in lowland areas. However, its success as biofertilizer depends on its biomass production and N2 fixation. Nutrient imbalances and soils low in available nutrients can considerably affect biofertilizer production. Use of mineral N, P, and K fertilizers in growing S. rostrata as biofertilizer for lowland rice was therefore evaluated in pot experiments, and in the fields in Central Luzon, Philippines. Two soils low in Olsen P (3–7.3 mg kg−1) and exchangeable K (0.05–0.08 meq 100g-1) were used. Increasing amounts of N (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg kg-1), P (0, 50, and 100 mg kg-1), and K (0, 100, 200, and 300 mg kg-1) were applied to S. rostrata grown in the greenhouse, whereas small amounts of N, P, and K fertilizers (30, 15, and 33 kg ha-1, respectively) were applied in the field. Mineral N application depressed nodulation and N2 fixation in roots. It however, stimulated nodulation and N2 fixation in stems. Applying 30 kg N ha-1 as urea increased total N accumulation by S. rostrata and yield of the subsequent rice crop (IR64). Applied P and K both stimulated growth, nodulation, and N2 fixation of S. rostrata. Nitrogen accumulation in P- and K-fertilized S. rostrata was about 40% higher than that in nonfertilized green manure. Thus integration of mineral N, P, and K fertilizers in a green manure-based rice-farming system can considerably improve biofertilizer production and increase rice grain yield.

Notes: Abstract Lowlands comprise 87% of the 145 M ha of world rice area. Lowland rice-based cropping systems are characterized by soil flooding during most of the rice growing season. Rainfall distribution, availability of irrigation water and prevailing temperatures determine when rice or other crops are grown. Nitrogen is the most required nutrient in lowland rice-based cropping systems. Reducing fertilizer N use in these cropping systems, while maintaining or enhancing crop output, is desirable from both environmental and economic perspectives. This may be possible by producing N on the land through legume biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), minimizing soil N losses, and by improved recycling of N through plant residues. At the end of a flooded rice crop, organic- and NH4-N dominate in the soil, with negligible amounts of NO3. Subsequent drying of the soil favors aerobic N transformations. Organic N mineralizes to NH4, which is rapidly nitrified into NO3. As a result, NO3 accumulates in soil during the aerobic phase. Recent evidence indicates that large amounts of accumulated soil NO3 may be lost from rice lowlands upon the flooding of aerobic soil for rice production. Plant uptake during the aerobic phase can conserve soil NO3 from potential loss. Legumes grown during the aerobic phase additionally capture atmospheric N through BNF. The length of the nonflooded season, water availability, soil properties, and prevailing temperatures determine when and where legumes are, or can be, grown. The amount of N derived by legumes through BNF depends on the interaction of microbial, plant, and environmental determinants. Suitable legumes for lowland rice soils are those that can deplete soil NO3 while deriving large amounts of N through BNF. Reducing soil N supply to the legume by suitable soil and crop management can increase BNF. Much of the N in legume biomass might be removed from the land in an economic crop produce. As biomass is removed, the likelihood of obtaining a positive soil N balance diminishes. Nonetheless, use of legumes rather than non-legumes is likely to contribute higher quantities of N to a subsequent rice crop. A whole-system approach to N management will be necessary to capture and effectively use soil and atmospheric sources of N in the lowland rice ecosystem.

Notes: Abstract This paper 1) reviews improvements and new approaches in methodologies for estimating biological N2 fixation (BNF) in wetland soils, 2) summarizes earlier quantitative estimates and recent data, and 3) discusses the contribution of BNF to N balance in wetland-rice culture. Measuring acetylene reducing activity (ARA) is still the most popular method for assessing BNF in rice fields. Recent studies confirm that ARA measurements present a number of problems that may render quantitative extrapolations questionable. On the other hand, few comparative measures show ARA's potential as a quantitative estimate. Methods for measuring photodependent and associative ARA in field studies have been standardized, and major progress has been made in sampling procedures. Standardized ARA measurements have shown significant differences in associative N2 fixation among rice varieties. The 15N dilution method is suitable for measuring the percentage of N derived from the atmosphere (% Ndfa) in legumes and rice. In particular, the 15N dilution technique, using available soil N as control, appears to be a promising method for screening rice varieties for ability to utilize biologically fixed N. Attempts to adapt the 15N dilution method to aquatic N2 fixers (Azolla and blue-green algae [BGA]) encountered difficulties due to the rapid change in 15N enrichment of the water. Differences in natural 15N abundance have been used to show differences among plant organs and species or varieties in rice and Azolla, and to estimate Ndfa by Azolla, but the method appears to be semi-quantitative. Recent pot experiments using stabilized 15N-labelled soil or balances in pots covered with black cloth indicate a contribution of 10–30 kg N ha-1 crop-1 by heterotrophic BNF in flooded planted soil with no or little N fertilizer used. Associative BNF extrapolated from ARA and 15N incorporation range from 1 to 7 kg N ha-1 crop-1. Straw application increases heterotrophic and photodependent BNF. Pot experiments show N gains of 2–4 mg N g-1 straw added at 10 tons ha-1. N2 fixation by BGA has been almost exclusively estimated by ARA and biomass measurements. Estimates by ARA range from a few to 80 kg N ha-1 crop-1 (average 27 kg). Recent extensive measurements show extrapolated values of about 20 kg N ha-1 crop-1 in no-N plots, 8 kg in plots with broadcast urea, and 12 kg in plots with deep-placed urea. Most information on N2 fixed by Azolla and legume green manure comes from N accumulation measurements and determination of % Ndfa. Recent trials in an international network show standing crops of Azolla averaging 30–40 kg N ha-1 and the accumulation of 50–90 kg N ha-1 for two crops of Azolla grown before and after transplanting rice. Estimates of % Ndfa in Azolla by 15N dilution and delta 15N methods range from 51 to 99%. Assuming 50–80% Ndfa in legume green manures, one crop can provide 50–100 kg N ha-1 in 50 days. Few balance studies in microplots or pots report extrapolated N gains of 150–250 kg N ha-1 crop-1. N balances in long-term fertility experiments range from 19 to 98 kg N ha-1 crop-1 (average 50 kg N) in fields with no N fertilizer applied. The problems encountered with ARA and 15N methods have revived interest in N balance studies in pots. Balances are usually highest in flooded planted pots exposed to light and receiving no N fertilizer; extrapolated values range from 16 to 70 kg N ha-1 crop-1 (average 38 kg N). A compilation of balance experiments with rice soil shows an average balance of about 30 kg N ha-1 crop-1 in soils where no inorganic fertilizer N was applied. Biological N2 fixation by individual systems can be estimated more or less accurately, but total BNF in a rice field has not yet been estimated by measuring simultaneously the activities of the various components in situ. As a result, it is not clear if the activities of the different N2-fixing systems are independent or related. A method to estimate in situ the contribution of N2 fixed to rice nutrition is still not available. Dynamics of BNF during the crop cycle is known for indigenous agents but the pattern of fixed N availability to rice is known only for a few green manure crops.

Notes: Abstract Field experiments were conducted under flooded soil conditions using Maahas clay amended with urea and rice straw-sesbania mixtures during the wet and dry seasons. Parallel laboratory incubation tests were done. The objectives were 1) to determine N mineralization patterns and establish the relationship between mineralization parameters and either N availability or grain yield, and 2) to correlate the results of organic N mineralization studies in the laboratory with data from field experiments. The N mineralization patterns of flooded soils in the laboratory followed a logistic function. In laboratory studies, mineralization potential was positively correlated with extractable soil NH4 +-N at the end of the incubation period (cumulative available N). Likewise, mineralization potential calculated from laboratory studies was positively correlated with N uptake and grain yield from field studies. Extractable (NH4 ++NO3 −)-N in the field correlated positively with extractable NH4 +-N in the laboratory. The extractable NH4 +-N from laboratory incubations at 14 days after transplanting, panicle initiation, and maturity was also highly and positively correlated with grain yield from field experiments.