Magnitude of Nitrogen Fixation by Lentil at Different Rates of Phosphorous Using 15N Technique

Abstract

AbstractTwo lentil cultivars, UJ1 and ILL, have been introduced into the farming system of the Middle East. The influence of P on their potential to fix N2 under drought conditions is lacking. A factorial field experiment was carried out at Taibeh (500 mm yr−1) and Muru (300 mm yr−1), where three rates of P, two lentil cultivars and barley were included. Phosphorus was the main plot, while lentil and barley were grown randomly in the subplots. A typical experiment treated with unlabeled 100 kg N ha−1 with similar P rates was conducted at the Taibeh site. Both cultivars on each site did not differ significantly at different levels of P regarding the biological yield. At each P level, both cultivars derived similar nitrogen percentages from atmosphere (per cent Ndfa), except at Taibeh with the intermediate rate of P, where ILL derived (66.1 %) compared to UJ1 (40.3 %). At Taibeh, the average percentages of N in the grain and straw were 4.17 % and 1.14%, respectively, and were significantly higher than at the Muru site (3.38 %, 1.29 %). The relatively drought‐like conditions at Muru reduced percentage Ndfa to ∼28 but this was increased by P addition. Nitrogen addition reduced partitioning of N (N index) from ∼0.70 % to ∼0.55 % and decreased P percentage in the grain from ∼0.40 % to ∼0.31 % and in straw from 0.11% to 0.07 % due to early maturation. In spite of the indigenous Rhizobium efficiency to fix N2, only 52.0 % and 42.3 % of the plant N was derived from the atmosphere at Taibeh and Muru, respectively, causing depletion of soil N reservoir.