Performance of Sesbania–Sunflower under Different Cropping Systems using 15N and 13C
2018
Fawaz Kurdali
A field experiment on sesbania (ses) and sunflower (sun) plants grown in monocropping and intercropping systems (1ses:1sun; 1ses:2sun, and 2ses:1sun, row ratio) was conducted to evaluate growth and N2-fixation using 13C and 15N natural abundance techniques. The results showed that 1ses:1sun surpassed the other treatments in terms of nitrogen (N) and dry matter yields (DM). However, 1ses:2sun gave the highest seed and oil production and showed the greatest N2-fixation. Sesbania plants in the 1ses:2sun fixed almost identical amounts of N2 in mono and intercropping systems. Moreover, soil N-uptake was the lowest among other treatments. These results give an advantage to the 1ses:2sun treatment over other treatments in terms of soil N consumption and N2 fixation to meet sesbania's N requirements. Nevertheless, 2ses:1sun seemed to be an inappropriate treatment. On the other hand, it could be suggested from ‰D13C data that plants in the intercropping systems appeared not to be subjected to any abiotic stress during the growing period.
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