Measuring N2- Fixation by some Varieties of Groundnut and their Residual Effect on Subsequent Sorghum Crop using 15N Methodology
Abstract
Five varieties of groundnuts were studied for their exact amount of nitrogen fixation effect on subsequent sorghum crop. The 15N methodology was used with a non-nodulating groundnut isoline as the reference crop. Six months after the groundnut harvest, sorghum was sown to study the presence of any residual N from fixation and/or soils own conserved N. The non-nodulating groundnut as a reference crop could detect N fixation (Ndfa) as amounting to 60% —70% of the crops need, i.e., 20%-30% more than the 40% -50% detected using sesame as the reference crop. The N derived from soil (Ndfs) was reduced from 50%-60% to 30%-40% which is much closer to what the low N (300ppm) Gezira soil can provide. Subsequent sorghum was positively affected by the preceding groundnut varieties but only variety Medani gave significant straw and total biological yields over the non-nodulating isoline. There was, therefore, an indication of residual N represented by the higher parameters recorded for the varieties. Groundnut is thus a good preceding crop for cereals though more research work is needed in the area of biological nitrogen fixation.
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