Inoculation and Soil Texture Effects on Yield and Yield Components of Mungbean

Abstract

Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] is a short-duration and relatively drought-tolerant crop grown predominantly in the tropics. This grain legume can improve soil fertility through biological nitrogen (N) fixation. To assess the effects of Bradyrhizobium (group I) inoculation on yield and yield attributes of mungbean, a greenhouse study was conducted during Fall 2016 with two mungbean cultivars (‘Berken’ and ‘OK2000’), two inoculum treatments (inoculated and uninoculated), and two soil textures (loamy sand and silt loam). Pots were laid out in a completely randomized design and treatment combinations were replicated seven times. The main effects of cultivar and soil texture significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected mungbean seed weight and plant residue mass. Seed yield (13%), plant residue (22%), and protein content (6%) of OK2000 were significantly higher than Berken cultivar. A 31% seed yield and 40% plant residue increase were recorded on silt loam soil compared to loamy sand soil. Significant increase in plant height (18%) and number of pods per plant (21%) were also recorded when mungbean plants were grown on silt loam compared to loamy sand soil. Bradyrhizobium inoculation significantly increased the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per plant, and seed yield. [Cultivar × inoculation] and [cultivar × soil texture] interactions had significant (P ≤ 0.05) effects on number of seeds per pods and plant height, respectively. Understanding the agronomic practices and soil physical properties that may limit mungbean production could help in optimizing its establishment and growth in non-traditional growing areas.

Assessment of Nitrogen Fixation by Mungbean Genotypes in Different Soil Textures Using 15N Natural Abundance Method

“…A greater shoot and total plant dry matter of mungbean grown on the silt loam soil, exceeding by more than 150% those on the loamy sand soil texture, was likely a result of enhanced fertility and greater water holding capacity on the silt loam soil. A previous study conducted by Diatta et al (2018) also reported that mungbean grown on a silt loam soil produced 40% more biomass than on a loamy sand soil. Mungbean grown on the silt loam soil also recorded the highest amounts of shoot δ 15 N (9.12‰).…”

“…In mungbean, N is exported in the form of ureide, a nitrogenous transport compound, from the nodules (Crews et al 2004;Herridge and Peoples 2002). Limited production in regions other than South and Southeast Asia, Australia, and East Africa (Diatta et al 2018;Keatinge et al 2011) has resulted in scant research efforts aiming to understand the observed variation in N 2 fixation by mungbean and assess its contribution to cropping system (Herridge et al 2008;Raji et al 2019;Thilakarathna et al 2016).…”

“…Soil texture is known to have a significant effect on Rhizobium survival, root development, crop growth, and biomass yield of mungbean which subsequently affect N 2 fixation yields (Diatta et al 2018;Singh et al 2011). Ahmad et al (2015) demonstrated that a suitable soil can increase water and nutrient uptake by mungbean due to better root development.…”

Evaluating pearl millet and mungbean intercropping in the semi‐arid regions of Senegal

“…Though N 2 fixation in mungbean was not measured in the present study, we observed nodulation and hypothesized that inoculation of mungbean may have led to increased N 2 fixation and N inputs. The greenhouse study evaluating the effects of inoculation on mungbean yield showed that inoculated plants had higher number of root nodules, seed weight, and plant biomass than uninoculated mungbean (Diatta et al., 2018). Similar to Trail et al.…”

Evaluating Effects of Bradyrhizobium and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculation on Yield Components of Mung Bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) and Nitrogen Fixation

“…The use of biofertilizers in pulse crop production can be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic fertilizer production [7]. Some factors affecting proper nodulation include, soil acidity, the water holding capacity of the soil, and soil texture [8,9]. Soil transfer, or residual indigenous rhizobium, is largely considered to be the first method of legume inoculation and early experiments of exogenous soil inoculation saw yields 10 times that of the control [10].…”