Abstract
A field experiment was conducted to obtain the N balance sheet for sole crops and intercrops of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and pigeonpeas [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]. Intercropping gave a significant advantage over sole cropping in terms of dry matter production and grain yield, as calculated on the basis of the land equivalent ratio and area-time equivalent ratio. The N fertilizer use efficiency and atmospheric N2 fixation by pigeonpea were estimated using 15N-labeling and natural abundance methods. The N fertilizer use efficiency of sorghum was unaltered by the cropping system, while that of the pigeonpea was greatly reduced by intercropping. Although intercropping increased the fractional contribution of fixed N to the pigeonpeas, no significant difference was observed between the cropping systems in total symbiotically fixed N. There was no evidence of a significant transfer of N from the pigeonpea to the sorghum. This study showed that use of soil N and fertilizer N by pigeonpeas was almost the same as that by sorghum in sole cropping, indicating the potential competence of pigeonpeas to exploit soil N. However, when N was exhausted by a companion crop in intercropping, the pigeonpea crop increased its dependency on atmospheric N2 fixation. We conclude that knowledge of how N from different sources is shared by companion crops is a prerequisite to establishing strategies to increase N use, and consequently land productivity, in intercropping systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arihara J, Ae N, Okada K (1991) Root development of pigeonpea and chickpea and its significance in different cropping systems. In: Johansen C, Lee KK, Sahrawat KL (eds) Phosphorus nutrition of grain legumes in the semi-arid tropics. ICRISAT, Patancheru, India, pp 183–194
Bandyopadhyay SK, De R (1986) N relationship in a legume nonlegume association grown in an intercropping system. Fertil Res 10:73–82
Chalk PM (1985) Estimation of N2 fixation by isotopic dilution: an appraisal of techniques involving 15N enrichment and their application. Soil Biol Biochem 17:183–192
Chang JF, Shibles RM (1985) An analysis of competition between intercropped cowpea and maize (I). Soil N and P levels and their relationships with dry matter and seed productivity. Field Crops Res 12:133–143
Chaykin S (1969) Assay of nicotinamide deaminase. Determination of ammonia by the indophenol reaction. Anal Biochem 32:375–382
Danso SKA, Zapata F, Harderson G, Fried M (1987) Nitrogen fixation in fababeans as affected by plant population density in sole or intercropped systems with barley. Soil Biol Biochem 19:411–415
Eaglesham ARJ, Ayanaba A, Ranga Rao V, Eskew DL (1981) Improving the nitrogen nutrition of maize by intercropping with cowpea. Soil Biol Biochem 13:169–171
Elmore RW, Jackobs JA (1986) Yield and nitrogen yield of sorghum intercropped with nodulating and nonnodulating soybeans. Agron J 78:780–782
Hiebsch CK, McCollum RE (1987) Area-time equivalency ratio: A method for evaluating the productivity of intercrops. Agron J 79:15–22
Ito O, Matsunaga R, Tobita S, Rao TP (1991) Rooting behaviour and root activities of intercropped pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh] and sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L.) as affected by nitrogen fertilization. In Abstracts of the 3rd Symposium of the International Society of Root Research, 2–6 Sept 1991, Vienna, Austria, p 90
Jena D, Misra C (1990) Symbiotic N fixation and fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency in legume-cereal intercropping systems. J Indian Soc Soil Sci 38:667–673
Kumar Rao JVDK, Thompson JA, Sastry PVSS, Giller KE, Day JM (1987) Measurement of N2-fixation in field-grown pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] using 15N-labelled fertilizer. Plant and Soil 101:107–113
La Favre JS, Focht DD (1983) Comparison of N2 fixation and yields in Cajanus cajan between hydrogenase-positive and hydrogenase-negative Rhizobia by in situ acetylene reduction assay and direct 15N partitioning. Plant Physiol 72:971–977
Mead R, Willey RW (1980) The concept of a ‘Land equivalent Ratio’ and advantages in yields from intercropping. Exp Agric 16:217–228
Natarajan M, Willey RW (1980) Sorghum-pigeonpea intercropping and the effects of plant population density. II. Resource use. J Agric Sci 95:59–65
Ofori F, Stern WR (1986) Maize/cowpea intercropping system: Effect of nitrogen fertilizer on productivity and efficiency. Field Crops Res 14:247–261
Ofori F, Pate JS, Stern WR (1987) Evaluation of N2-fixation and nitrogen economy of a maize/cowpea intercrop system using 15N dilution methods. Plant and Soil 102:149–160
Papastylianou I (1988) The 15N methodology in estimating N2 fixation by vetch and pea grown in pure stand and mixtures with oat. Plant and Soil 107:183–188
Papastylianou I, Danso SKA (1991) Nitrogen fixation and transfer in vetch and vetch-oat mixtures. Soil Biol Biochem 23:447–452
Patra DD, Sachdev MS, Subbiah BV (1986) 15N studies on the transfer of legume-fixed nitrogen to associated cereals in intercropping systems. Biol Fertil Soils 2:165–171
Peoples MB, Faizal AW, Rerkasem B, Herridge DF (1989) Methods for evaluating nitrogen fixation by nodulated legumes in the field. Aust. Commonw Inst Agric Res Canberra
Rego TJ (1981) Nitrogen response studies of intercropped sorghum with pigeonpea. In Proceedings of international workshop for intercropping, 10–13 Jan, 1979. ICRISAT, Hyderabad, pp 210–216
Rerkasem B, Rerkasem K, Peoples MB, Herridge DF, Bergersen FJ (1988) Measurement of N2 fixation in maize (Zea mays L.)-ricebean (Vignia umbellata [Thumb.] Ohwi and Ohashi) intercrops. Plant and Soil 108:125–135
Shearer G, Kohl DH (1986) N2 fixation in field settings: Estimations based on natural 15N abundance. Aust J Plant Physiol 13:699–756
Singh U, Sahrawat KL, Jambunathan R, Burford JR (1984) The use of hydrogen peroxide for the digestion and determination of total nitrogen in chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.) and pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) J Sci Food Agric 35:640–646
van Kessel C, Roskoski JP (1988) Row spacing effects of N2-fixation, N-yield and soil N uptake of intercropped cowpea and maize. Plant and Soil 111:17–23
Vose PB, Victoria RL (1986) Re-examination of the limitations of nitrogen-15 isotope dilution technique for the field measurement of dinitrogen fixation. In: Hauck RD, Weaver RW (eds) Field measurement of dinitrogen fixation and denitrification. Soil Sci Soc Am, Madison, Wis, pp 23–41
Willey RW (1979) Intercropping — Its importance and research needs. Part 1. Competition and yield advantages. Field Crop Abstr 32:1–11
Willey RW, Rao MR, Natarajan M (1981) Traditional cropping systems with pigeopea and their improvement. In: Nene YL, Kumble V (eds) Proceedings of the International Workshop on Pigeonpeas, vol 1. ICRISAT, Patancheru, pp 11–25
Yoneyama T (1987) N2-fixation and natural 15N abundance of leguminous plants and Azolla. Bull Natl Inst Agrobiol Resour 3:59–87
Yoneyama T, Nambiar PTC, Lee KK, Srinivasa Rao B, Williams JH (1990) Nitrogen accumulation in three legumes and two cereals with emphasis on estimation of N2 fixation in the legumes by the natural 15N-abundance technique. Biol Fertil Soils 9:25–30
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tobita, S., Ito, O., Matsunaga, R. et al. Field evaluation of nitrogen fixation and use of nitrogen fertilizer by sorghum/pigeonpea intercropping on an Alfisol in the Indian semi-arid tropics. Biol Fert Soils 17, 241–248 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383976
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383976