Effect of Rhizobium Inoculation on Growth of Common Bean in Low-Fertility Tropical Soil Amended with Phosphorus and Lime

Harimenja Razafintsalama, Jean Trap, Bodovololona Rabary, Adamson Tsoushima Ernest Razakatiana, Heriniaina Ramanankierana, Lilia Rabeharisoa and Thierry Becquer
Additional contact information
Harimenja Razafintsalama: Laboratoire des Radio Isotopes, Department of Agronomy, University of Antananarivo, BP 3383, Route d’Andraisoro, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
Jean Trap: Eco&Sols, University Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier SupAgro, 34060 Montpellier, France
Bodovololona Rabary: FOFIFA, BP 230, Antsirabe 110, Madagascar
Adamson Tsoushima Ernest Razakatiana: Centre National de Recherches sur l’Environnement, Laboratoire de Microbiologie de l’Environnement, BP 1739, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
Heriniaina Ramanankierana: Centre National de Recherches sur l’Environnement, Laboratoire de Microbiologie de l’Environnement, BP 1739, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
Lilia Rabeharisoa: Laboratoire des Radio Isotopes, Department of Agronomy, University of Antananarivo, BP 3383, Route d’Andraisoro, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
Thierry Becquer: Eco&Sols, University Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier SupAgro, 34060 Montpellier, France

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: The cultivation of grain legumes (e.g., common bean) in sub-Saharan Africa contributes to the provision of food for a growing population and delivers environmental benefits such as inputs of nitrogen (N) to crops and soil via symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF). However, the success of SNF is constrained by several factors such as the poor efficiency of native rhizobial strains to fix N, the low availability of phosphorus (P) and the acidity of soils. Two trials have been conducted in low-fertility tropical soils at the smallholder farm scale in Madagascar to assess the effects of Rhizobium inoculation together with inputs of P and lime on the growth of the common bean. We showed that inoculation with native strains of Rhizobium had significant effects on bean root nodulation, which was increased by up to 15-fold on plant growth, which increased by 78% and on bean yield, which increased by 126%. Moreover, we observed positive and significant relationships between inoculation with Rhizobium and P fertilization on nodulation, plant growth and yield. However, the addition of dolomite lime did not show any effect in our study. The addition of P decreased the mycorrhization rate of roots. Additional research is still needed to improve our understanding of soil fertility conditions (mainly on nutrient availability, including micronutrients) allowing better efficiency of legume symbionts (rhizobium and mycorrhiza) in such low-fertility soils.

Keywords: common bean; rhizobium; phosphorus; lime; mycorrhizal fungi; biological nitrogen fixation; ferralsol; Madagascar (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/4907/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/4907/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:4907-:d:797283

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().