Observations on the use ofSesbania rostrata as green manure in paddy fields

Abstract

Sesbania rostrata is a wild annual legume that grows in West Africa in waterlogged soils during the rainy season. This plant can bear N2-fixing nodules on roots and stems at the same time. Stem nodules result from the infection of predetermined sites (dormant root primordia distributed on the stems) by a specific strain ofRhizobium. The mode of infection ofS. rostrata is unique among the legumes, as it involves both an intercellular invasion by rhizobia and the development of infection threads. Inoculation of the stems is achieved by spraying a liquid culture of the specificRhizobium on the shoots. Properly inoculatedS. rostrata can fix up to 200 kg N2/ha in 50 days. A unique property ofS. rostrata is to nodulate and fix nitrogen even when the amount of combined nitrogen in the soil is high. Based on 1 m2 microplot trials conducted in Senegal during the summer the use ofS. rostrata as green manure doubled rice yields. These results were later confirmed in trials conducted on 25 m2 plots. In winter, when the day length is shorter,S. rostrata grows poorly but flowers readily.Sesbania rostrata trials should be conducted in two successive stages: (1) assessment ofS. rostrata behaviour in a given geographic region; (2) assessment of the effect ofS. rostrata green manure on rice yields.