Abstract
Application of adequate level of K has shown to improve the competitive ability of the legume in legume/grass mixtures. However, the effect of K on the competitive ability of grain legumes in legume/cereal intercropping systems has not been adequately studied. Hence, studies were made to ascertain if the effects of K could be exploited in improving the performance of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cv. No. 45 when intercropped with maize (Zea mays L.) cv. Badra. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Kamburupitiya, Sri Lanka in 1988 in basins filled with 36 kg of soil. It involved establishing maize and groundnut as monocrops and as intercrops at three K levels viz. 0, 20 and 40 mg of K kg−1 of soil. Monocrop maize and groundnut had 2 and 5 plants/basin, respectively while the intercrop had 1 maize plant and 3 groundnut plants/basin. The soil used was Red Yellow Podzolic which was tagged by incorporating15N-labelled plant material. When grown as a monocrop, K had no effect on the percent N derived from atmosphere, amount of N2 fixed, dry matter production, pod yield and total N content of groundnut. However, when intercropped with maize lack of K application affected the above parameters significantly which was overcome by improving K level. Thus, the optimum level of K for groundnut was greater when intercropped than monocropped. A significant interaction between K level and cropping system was evident with regard to N2 fixation, pod yield and total dry matter production of groundnut. Intercrop maize derived 30–35% of its N content from the associated groundnut plants which amounted to 13–22 mg N/plant. The amount of N supplied by groundnut to associated maize plant was not affected by K level. It appears that there is scope for alleviating growth depression of the legume component in legume/cereal intercropping systems by developing appropriate K fertilizer practices.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson AJ, Haahr V, Jensen ES and Sandfaer J (1983) Effect of N-fertilizer on yield, protein content and symbiotic N2 fixation inPisum sativum L. grown in pure stand and mixtures with barley. In: Thompson R and Casey R (ed) Prespectives for Peas and Lupins as protein crops, pp 205–218. The Hague, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff
Andrew CS (1977) Nutritional constraints of legume symbiosis. In: Vincent JM, Whitney AS and Bose J (eds) Exploiting the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis in Tropical Agriculture, pp 253-274. College of Trop. Agric. Miscellaneous Publications 145, Univ. of Hawaii
Anon (1985) Report on trials analysis of upland food crops for the years 1983–1984 and 1984–1985. Directorate of Food Crop Production, Jakarta
Blasser RE and Brady NC (1950) Nutrient competition in plant associations. Agron J 42: 128–135
Bremner JM and Mulvaney CS (1982) Nitrogen total. In: Miller RH, Kenney DR (eds) Methods of Soil Analysis, pp 595-622. Medison, Wisc. ASA.
Chui JAN and Shibles R (1984) Influence of spatial arrangement of maize on performance of an associated soybean intercrop. Field Crops Res 8: 187–198
Crowder LV and Chheda HR (1982) Tropical grassland husbandry, New York: Longman
Dalal RC (1977) Effect of intercropping of maize with soyabean on grain yield. Trop Agric (Trinidad) 54: 189–191
Epstein E (1972) Mineral nutrition of plants: Principles and perspectives, New York: John Wiley and Sons
Fiedler R and Proksch G (1975) The determination of N-15 by emission & mass spectrometry in biochemical analysis: a review. Anal Chim Acta 78: 1–62
Fried M and Middleboe V (1977) Measurement of the amount of nitrogen fixed by a legume crop. Plant Soil 47: 713–715
Gunasekera MTK and Senaratne R (1990) Effect of potassium in alleviating competitive depression of Mungbean in Maize + Mungbean intercropping systems. Proc. 14th Inter Cong of Soil Sci Kyoto, Japan. Vol. iv: 501
Hardarson G, Danso SKA and Zapata F (1988) Dinitrogen fixation measurements in Alfalfa - Ryegrass swards using Nitrogen-15 and influence of the reference crop. Crop Sci 28: 101–105
Henzell EF and Valliz I (1977) Transfer of nitrogen between legumes and other crops. In: Ayanaba A and Dart PJ (eds) Biological Nitrogen Fixation in farming systems of the tropics, pp 73–78. New York: Wiley
Humphreys LR (1978) Tropical pastures and fodder crops. London: Longman
Lambert RC and Linck AJ (1964) Comparison of uptake of32P and42K by intact alfalfa and oat roots. Plant Physiol 39: 920–924
Nelson WL (1968) Plant factors affecting potassium availability and uptake. In: Kilmer VJ, Younts SE, Brady NC (eds) The role of potassium in agriculture, pp 377–378. A.S.A, C.S.A., S.S.S.A. Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Ofori F and Stern WR (1987) Cereal - legume intercropping systems. Adv Agron 41: 41–90
Rao MR, Ahmed S, Gunasena HPM, Alcantra AP (1979) Proc. Final INPUTS Rev. Meet 20–24 Aug, pp 123-160. Honolulu
Robinson GG (1988) Grazing Management. In: Lloyd DL (ed) The Tropical Grassland Society of Australia. Field day proceedings QDPI, 79 p. Toowoomba, Australia
Russel EW (1978) Soil conditions and plant growth, 10th edn. London: Longman
Senaratne R, Liyanage NDL and Soper RJ (1991) Nitrogen fixation and N-beneficial effects of some legumes in legume + cereal intercropping systems. Proc. 13th North American Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation Conference, 95 p. Banff, Canada
Willey RM (1979) Intercropping: its importance and research needs. Part I, Competition and yield advantages. Field Crop Abstr 32: 1–10
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Senaratne, R., Liyanage, N.D.L. & Ratnasinghe, D.S. Effect of K on nitrogen fixation of intercrop groundnut and the competition between intercrop groundnut and maize. Fertilizer Research 34, 9–14 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00749954
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00749954