Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:44:26.098Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Influence of salinity, rice straw and water regime on nitrogen fixation in paddy soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. K. Jena
Affiliation:
Division of Soil Science and Microbiology, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack 753006, India
V. Rajaramamohan Rao
Affiliation:
Division of Soil Science and Microbiology, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack 753006, India

Summary

In a laboratory incubation study, the effect of natural and artificial soil salinity on the soil N2 fixation, nitrogenase (C2H2 reduction) and N2-fixing populations was evaluated in rice soils under two water regimes. N2 fixation was less pronounced in two saline soils and in a normal non-saline soil amended with salt mixture (salinity level of 4 and 30 dS/m) than in a non-saline soil under flooded and nonflooded conditions. Flooded soils amended with rice straw showed higher N2-fixing activity than the non-flooded soils at all salinity levels used in the study. Leaching the saline soil improved N2 fixation. An increase in the soil salinity led to a decrease in the populations of at least three groups of N2-fixing micro-organisms. The population density of anaerobic N2 fixers and Azospirillum in a saline soil increased considerably after leaching or after addition of rice straw. Azotobacter populations were little affected by the salinity levels used in this study. Results indicate that soil amelioration for salinity with leaching and organic matter addition would improve the implicated microbial populations and N2 fixation in salt-affected rice soils.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

App, A. A., Watanabe, I., Alexander, M., Ventura, W., Daez, C., Santiaoo, T. & De Datta, S. K. (1980). Nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixation associated with the rice plant in flooded soils. Soil Science 130, 283289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balandreau, J., Rinaudo, G., Feres-Hamad, I. & Dommergues, Y. (1975). Nitrogen fixation in the rhizosphere of rice plant. In Nitrogen Fixation by Free-Living Microorganisms (ed. Stewart, W. D. P.), pp. 5770. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Charyulu, P. B. B. N. & Rao, V. R. (1979). Nitrogen fixation in some Indian rice soils. Soil Science 128, 8689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Datta, S. K. (1981). Principles and Practices of Rice Production, pp. 618. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Dommergues, Y. & Rinaudo, G. (1979). Factors affecting N2 fixation in the rice rhizosphere. In Nitrogen and Rice, pp. 241260. Los Banos, Philippines: International Rice Research Institute.Google Scholar
Jena, P. K. & Rao, V. R. (1987). Nitrogen fixation as influenced by pesticides and rice straw in paddy soils. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 108, 635638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladha, J. K., Tirol, A. C., Daroy, M. L. G., Caldo, G., Ventura, W. & Watanabe, I. (1986). Plant associated nitrogen fixation (C2H2 reduction) by five rice varieties and relationship with plant growth characters as affected by straw incorporation. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 32, 91106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nayak, D. N. & Rao, V. R. (1980). Pesticides and nitrogen fixation in a paddy soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 14, 207210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okon, Y., Albreoht, S. L. & Burris, R. H. (1977). Methods for growing Spirillum lipoferum and for counting it in pure culture and in association with plants. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 33, 8588.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ponnamperuma, F. N. & Bandyopadhya, A. K. (1980). Soil salinity as a constraint on food production in the humid tropics. In Priorities for Alleviating Soil-related Constraints to Food Production in the Tropics, pp. 203216. Los Banos, Philippines: International Rice Research Institute.Google Scholar
Rao, J. L. N. & Rao, V. R. (1986). Nitrogen fixation (C2H2 reduction) as influenced by sulphate in paddy soils. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 106, 331336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rao, V. R., Kalininskaya, T. A. & Miller, U. M. (1973). The activity of non symbiotic nitrogen fixation in soils of rice fields studied with 15N. Microbiologiya 42, 729734.Google Scholar
Watanabe, I., De Guzman, M. R. & Cabrera, D. A. (1981). The effect of nitrogen fertilizer on N2 fixation in the paddy field measured by in situ acetylene reduction assay. Plant and Soil 59, 135139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar