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Residual effects of nitrogen sources,sulfur and boron levels on mungbean(Vigna radiata) in a sunflower(Helianthus annuus)–mungbean systemKapila Shekhawat a & Yashbir Singh Shivay aa Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, NewDelhi, India

Available online: 05 Jul 2011

To cite this article: Kapila Shekhawat & Yashbir Singh Shivay (2012): Residual effects of nitrogensources, sulfur and boron levels on mungbean (Vigna radiata) in a sunflower (Helianthusannuus)–mungbean system, Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 58:7, 765-776

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Residual effects of nitrogen sources, sulfur and boron levels on mungbean

(Vigna radiata) in a sunflower (Helianthus annuus)–mungbean system

Kapila Shekhawat and Yashbir Singh Shivay*

Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

(Received 2 January 2010; final version received 6 December 2010)

Field experiments were conducted during spring–rainy (kharif) seasons of 2005and 2006 on a sunflower–mungbean cropping system at the research farm of theDivision of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), NewDelhi, India. The objectives of this study were to investigate the residual effect ofnitrogen sources, sulfur and boron levels applied to sunflower on productivity,nutrient concentrations and their uptake by the succeeding mungbean crop in asunflower–mungbean cropping system. The experiment with 19 treatments waslaid out in factorial randomized block design for both sunflower and mungbean.The residual effects of nutrients applied to sunflower were significant on thesucceeding mungbean crop in terms of biometric parameters, yield attributingcharacters, seed yield and soil nutrient status. The highest mungbean seed yield(961.2 kg ha71) was produced with 50 kg ha71 sulfur application to thepreceding sunflower crop, which was significantly (p 5 0.05) higher than with 0and 25 kg sulfur ha71. The concentrations and uptake of nitrogen, sulfur andboron were also greater in the succeeding mungbean crop due to the residualeffects of nutrients applied to the preceding sunflower crop. The soil nutrientstatus before and after mungbean indicated that the available nitrogen and sulfurwere higher due to application to the preceding crop, while available boron aftermungbean was even higher than after sunflower due to its slow release and staticnature in the soil.

Keywords: boron; calcium ammonium nitrate; mungbean; prilled urea; sunflower–mungbean cropping system; sulfur; yield attributes and yields

Introduction

Pulses are the principal protein sources in many Indian homes and as demand hasgrown steadily, supplies have stagnated. There is a limit for import because no othercountry eats and grows pulses the way Indians do. In an effort to get farmers back togrowing pulses, the Central Government of India recently took several steps toincrease their production and productivity (Barman 2010). India is also one of themajor oilseed- and pulse-producing countries in the world, but production of thesecrops needs to be enhanced to meet the national shortfall, because the availability ofpulses and edible oil in India is *29 and 20 g day71 head71 against a balancednutritional requirement of 80 and 30 g day71 head71, respectively (Economic Survey2009–2010). Mungbean [Vigna radiata (Linn.) Wilczek] is the third most important

*Corresponding author. Email: ysshivay@hotmail.com

Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science

Vol. 58, No. 7, July 2012, 765–776

ISSN 0365-0340 print/ISSN 1476-3567 online

� 2012 Taylor & Francis

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pulse crop in the Indian subcontinent. It can be cultivated in the rainy (kharif) andspring/summer season in North India and all year round in the peninsular states.Adoption of mungbean in an intensive cropping systems ensures replenishment,conservation and sustainability of soil resources. Introduction of mungbean as acash crop improves farm income and helps to prevent malnutrition in a country likeIndia where the majority of the population is vegetarian in food habit. In addition, italso saves 25% of the nitrogenous fertilizer in the succeeding crop. Oilseeds areenergy-rich crops and demand higher nutrition for their optimum production, hence,mungbean after an oilseed crop like sunflower helps to harness positive interaction ofnutrients and growth factors. A suitable combination of major and micronutrients is,by and large, the most important single factor that affects the yield and quality ofany cropping system (Srinivas and Mohammad 2002). Hence, an attempt has beenmade to customize the optimum nitrogen sources, sulfur and boron doses forsunflower, which might have a beneficial effect on the succeeding mungbean cropunder a sunflower–mungbean cropping system.

Materials and methods

Experimental site, treatment details and design

The experiment was conducted at the research farm of the Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India, which is situated at 288580 N latitude and778100 E longitude, with an elevation of*228.6 m above mean sea level (Arabian Sea)and is characterized in the long-term by a semi-arid and subtropical type climate. Theaverage rainfall is 683 mm, of which *84% falls during June to September. The fieldexperiment was conducted during the spring–rainy (kharif) seasons of 2005 and 2006on a sandy loam soil (sand, 58.2%; silt, 14.2%; clay, 27.6%) of pH 7.4, organic carbon0.42%, low available N (177.2 kg ha71), medium available P (15.8 kg ha71) and highavailable K (248.3 kg ha71). The available sulfur and boron in the soil was 23.21 kgha71 and 0.97 mg kg71 of soil, respectively. The experiment consisted of 19 treatmentcombinations including two sources of nitrogen; viz. prilled urea (PU) and calciumammonium nitrate (CAN). The dose of nitrogen for sunflower was 80 kg ha71, whichwas applied in two splits; half as basal and half 30 days after sowing. Three levels ofsulfur (S), 0, 25 and 50 kg ha71 were applied through ‘Cosavet’. Cosavet is a brown,water-dispersible powder containing 80% sulfur in the form of elemental sulfur. It isalso used as a contact fungicide and acaricide, and is manufactured and marketed inIndia by Sulphur Mills Limited, Mumbai. One kilogram of sulfur through Cosavetcosts *25 INR. Similarly, three levels of boron (B), 0, 0.75 and 1.5 kg ha71 wereapplied through borax (11.3% boron). The experiment was laid out in a factorialrandomized block design with three replications.

One absolute control was taken without any N, S or B fertilization.

Raising of crops

The sunflower crop was grown in the above-mentioned treatment combinations inspring (last fortnight of February to early June). Sunflower seed, at the rate of 8 kgha71, was sown in rows 45 cm apart, keeping 20 cm plant-to-plant distance/spacing.Seeds were sown manually at 5 cm depth using the dibbling method.

The succeeding mungbean crop was grown in the rainy (kharif) season (mid Julyto end September) on the residual nutrient availability of the soil. Mungbean was

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sown on 18 and 11 July, respectively, during 2005 and 2006. Seeds were sown at therate of 15 kg ha71 with a distance of 30 cm maintained between rows and 8 cmbetween plants.

Various agricultural operations like weeding, irrigation and picking wereperformed as per the requirement of the experiment. Because mungbean hasindeterminate growth; picking was carried out twice at an interval of 10 days. Theaverage growth duration of the sunflower and mungbean crops was 96 and 70 days,respectively, in this experiment during both years. To grow sunflower and mungbeancrops, four and three irrigations were given, respectively, as per soil moistureavailability and critical stages of the crop growth, each to an approximately averagedepth of 5 cm. The mungbean crop was harvested in September of each year.

Plant sampling and biometric observations

Various growth parameters and yield attributes like plant height, number ofbranches per plant, number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod wererecorded just before harvest of the mungbean crop. The seed and stover yield (kgha71) was also recorded from each net plot after threshing manually, and seeds werecleaned and weighed. Mungbean seed yield was recorded in kg ha71 and reported at12% moisture. The stover yield was obtained after subtracting grain yield from totalyield (biological yield). The harvest index was calculated using the followingexpression (Singh ID and Stoskoff 1971).

Harvest index ð%Þ ¼ Economic yield ðt ha�1ÞBiological yield ðt ha�1Þ

� 100

¼ Grain yield ðt ha�1ÞGrain yield ðt ha�1Þ þ Straw yield ðt ha�1Þ

� 100

Chemical analysis

Plant samples were taken at harvest from each plot for chemical analysis. Thesamples were dried in an electric oven at 65 + 28C for several hours until a constantweight was attained. The N, S and B concentrations in the seed and stover weredetermined as per procedures described by Prasad et al. (2006). The total uptake ofN, S and B was estimated by multiplying their concentrations with their respectiveyields (seed and stover). Total uptake was calculated by summing up the seed andstover uptake of each nutrient. Ten soil cores (5 cm diameter, 0–15 cm depth) weretaken from each plot. The soil samples were put in polyethylene bags and allowed todry, and transported to the laboratory where they were thoroughly mixed and sieved(2 mm mesh), and visible plant material was removed by hand. The available soil N,S and B values after sunflower and succeeding mungbean crop harvest weredetermined as per the procedures described by Prasad et al. (2006).

Statistical analysis

Analysis of variance was performed in a factorial randomized block design forvarious observations recorded during the experiment, as described by Gomez andGomez (1984). The results were presented at a 5% level of significance (p ¼ 0.05).

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The critical difference (CD) values were calculated to compare the varioustreatments mean.

Results and discussion

Growth parameters and yield attributes

Data on various growth parameters of mungbean are shown in Table 1. Plant heightfor mungbean was recorded at the time of harvest. Significantly (p 5 0.05) tallermungbean plants were obtained when nitrogen was supplied to the precedingsunflower because the residual nitrogen gave a quick and vigorous development interms of root and shoot growth. However, CAN was superior to PU due to theammonical form of nitrogen present in CAN. Nitrogen application balances thecarbon assimilation (shoot) and mineral acquisition (root) both in relation to eachother through source–sink relationships and in relation to resource supply (waterand nutrients). Hence, nitrogen-supplied seedlings grow quickly and maintain ahigher shoot-to-root ratio than seedlings receiving less or no nitrogen (Gazelius andNasholm 1993). Nitrogen supply strongly influences crop growth through its effecton leaf area development and photosynthetic capacity and a higher leaf carbondioxide exchange rate (Sinclair and Horie 1989; Tonev 2006). Application of sulfurand boron to sunflower also produced significantly taller mungbean plants, althoughthe increase was less with boron than with sulfur. The soluble and readily availableforms of sulfur (sulfate) and boron (borate) through Cosavet and borax due toapplication in the preceding sunflower had a positive role in metabolic activities,which leads to higher photosynthetic activities and thereby increased plant height.Also, the sulfur requirement of mungbean is greater at the early growth stages; henceits availability at the initial stages triggered the increase in plant height and growth(Khurana et al. 1998). Addition of boron increased plant height because it is relatedto cell wall formation. Because boron deficiency first appears at the growing points,deficient plants remain stunted and do not reach maximum height. An initial boronsupply reduces lignifications, hence, histologically, the plant cell continues to grow,especially at the tips with elongation of epicotyls and hypocotyl (Hua and Yan 1998;Yu and Bell 1998).

A positive residual effect of nitrogen, sulfur and boron application to sunflowerwas observed in the yield attributes of the succeeding mungbean crop (Table 1).Effective nitrogen management in the sunflower–mungbean cropping systemimproved light interception, photosynthesis, growth, biomass production and yieldof mungbean. The better partitioning of photosynthates from source to sinkenhanced the yield attributes, seed and stover yield and harvest index of mungbean.Nitrogen application through CAN in sunflower produced significantly (p 5 0.05)more pods per plant in mungbean, although the number of grains pod71 remainedon a par with PU. Sulfur application at the rate of 50 kg ha71 produced highernumbers of branches plant71 and grains pod71. It is known that the chlorophyllcontent, photosynthetic CO2 fixation and protein content increase with sulfurapplication (Badruddin and Shafiquallah 1998), and that sulfur improved flowering,anthesis, pod formation, higher numbers of seeds pod71 and thereby, yield andquality (Singh MV 2001). An increase in the numbers of branches and of podsplant71 of mungbean was also recorded with boron application at a rate of 1.5 kgha71 on residual fertility. Under the boron-deficient condition, boron applicationincreases the vegetative and reproductive dry matter accumulation of plants by more

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Table1.

Residualeff

ectsofnitrogen

sources,sulfurandboronlevelsongrowth,yield

attributesandyield

ofmungbeanin

sunflower–mungbeancropping

(pooledover

twoyears

exceptyield

data).

Plant

Number

of

Number

Number

Grain

yield

(kgha7

1)

Stover

yield

(kgha7

1)

Treatm

ents

height

(cm)

branches

plant7

1ofpods

plant7

1ofgrains

pod7

12005

2006

2005

2006

Harvest

index

(%)

Nitrogen

sources

(80kgha7

1)

PU

40.2

25.4

23.7

7.85

883.3

812.1

4117.6

4003.9

17.2

CAN

46.2

29.2

25.3

8.25

897.4

916.3

4211.9

4185.2

17.7

CD

(p¼

0.05)

1.71

0.9

0.9

NS

NS

30.6

58.7

NS

NS

Sulfurlevels(kgha7

1)

038.8

24.9

20.4

7.6

824.9

769.3

4015.4

3985.5

16.8

25

42.9

27.2

25.1

8.25

861.1

886.4

4131.5

4012.5

17.6

50

47.9

29.9

28

8.45

985.2

937.5

4347.5

4285.6

18.1

CD

(p¼

0.05)

2.2

1.14

1.09

0.34

38.9

36.9

158.7

118.6

NS

Boronlevels(kgha7

1)

040.7

23.6

21.6

7.3

850.3

785.1

3987.3

4018.6

16.9

0.75

43.0

27.5

25.1

8.1

887.5

886.3

4174.5

4045.9

17.7

1.50

46.0

30.89

26.8

8.8

933.5

921.4

4332.6

4219.2

17.7

CD

(p¼

0.05)

2.2

1.14

1.1

0.34

38.9

36.9

58.7

118.6

NS

Absolute

control

30.9

14.8

14.2

6.95

756.1

762.1

4062.3

4001.5

15.8

Rest

43.2

27.3

24.4

8.05

890.4

864.3

4164.8

4094.5

17.4

CD

(p¼

0.05)

8.1

2.5

2.47

0.32

42.45

48.44

129.4

125.90

1.5

Note:CD,criticaldifference;PU,prilled

urea;CAN,calcium

ammonium

nitrate;NS,non-significant.

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than three-fold (Asad et al. 2003). Boron availablity at an early stage enhances leafchlorophyll content, leaf stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate and non-structural carbohydrate export from leaf to the yield-attributing sink (Bhattacharyaet al. 2004; Osterhuis and Zhao 2006). Boron application allows pollen tubes to growbecause cell wall pectins are internalized by muco-de-esterification and cross-linkingwith boron, which increases the number of filled seeds in pods of mungbean(Renukadevi et al. 2002).

Yields and harvest index

Data on seed yield, stover yield and harvest index are given in Table 1. Nitrogensupplied through CAN produced significantly higher seed yield than PU during2006, the second year of the experiment. Nitrogen uptake in ammonical formthrough CAN alters sugar metabolism in the plant. This encourages more sugarproduction and a greater rate of export out of the leaves to the sinks like roots andfruits, the storage organ can accumulate the sugar, enhancing growth, yield andquality, and decreasing susceptibility to disease (Atkin and Cummins 1994). If theplant can utilize 50% of the nitrogen as the ammonical (NH4

þ) form, the crop canproduce greater yields with the same nitrogen level. Nitrate-N through urea (afterformation of ammonium and nitrification) tends to accumulate in the leaves andincrease organic acid production, which increases the demand for calcium toneutralize the acidity, but if calcium is in deficit it may be remobilized from the roots.This movement of calcium from the roots disturbs root integrity and can lead toleaky roots and ethylene production, signalling to the plant to shut down (Atkin andCummins 1994). This resulted in an increase in seed yield of mungbean wherenitrogen was supplied through CAN.

The sulfur requirement of pulses is much higher than that of cereals, because it isa constituent of sulfur-containing amino acids, in addition to being involved inseveral metabolic processes. Sulfur application exhibited a positive correlation withplant height, number of branches, number of clusters, pods cluster71, number ofpods and seed yield. These components help in seed yield improvement. A significantresidual response of sulfur added to sunflower on the succeeding mungbean wasrecorded up to 50 kg ha71. A higher magnitude of responses was obtained at lowerdoses of sulfur as a direct effect, but the residual sulfur effect was higher at higherdoses of sulfur, as also reported by Malewar et al. (1999). Application ofmacronutrients along with required micronutrient in a balanced manner is aneffective proposition for obtaining a higher seed yield of mungbean. Boronapplication in preceding sunflower recorded higher values for pod weight, grainweight and haulm weight plant71 in succeeding mungbean due to favourable effectof boron on plant metabolism and biological N2-fixation. This is in accordance withAli and Mishra (2001), who noted that boron favoured better root growth andnitrogen assimilation with higher nodulation, which in consequence resulted in bettergrowth and development of sink size and ultimately higher yield. The yield incrementin mungbean is higher because boron affects the pollen-producing capacity andanther viability of pollen grains, pollen germination and pollen tube growth. Thus,the number of seeds, number of pods and seed yield increased with residual boronavailability (Verma et al. 2004). Mungbean receiving boron maintained a higher lightinterception ratio, leaf area index, biomass production, crop growth rate and netassimilation ratio, which resulted in higher harvest index and seed yield (Renukadevi

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et al. 2002). Boron maintains plasma membrane integrity by stimulating membrane-related enzymes, which prevent damage by free oxygen radicals. It also reduces leafstarch concentration, which enhances photoassimilate translocation from leaves topods, ultimately enhancing yield (Overstreet 2003; Rega and Anza 2003).

The residual effect of various fertilizer treatments on succeeding mungbean undera sunflower–mungbean cropping system resulted in an increase in stover yieldcompared with unfertilized controls. The nitrogen source had no significantdifference on stover yield. The response of sulfur was higher with the first dose,i.e. at 25 kg sulfur ha71 than at 50 kg sulfur ha71. Boron did not bring about asignificant change in stover yield in the succeeding mungbean although the yield wassuperior to controls.

Harvest index values for mungbean produced with CAN and PU werestatistically on a par. Application of sulfur and boron increased the harvest indexbut the differences were not significant.

Nutrient concentrations in succeeding mungbean

After harvest of the succeeding mungbean crop, various nutrient concentrations likenitrogen, sulfur and boron were estimated in both seed and stover of mungbean, andthe data are presented in Table 2. Nutrient application resulted in a higher nitrogenconcentration and all the treatments were significantly superior to unfertilizedcontrol. The nitrogen concentration in seed and stover was higher where nitrogen wasapplied through CAN, possibly because of higher residual N through CAN. Sulfurapplication had a positive effect on nitrogen concentration in both seed and stover.The residual effect of boron application also enhanced the nitrogen concentration ofboth seed and stover, athough the increase was greater with residual sulfur.

A higher sulfur concentration was noticed in seed than in stover of succeedingmungbean. The sources of nitrogen, CAN and urea, did not have any significantdifference on sulfur and boron concentration either in seed or stover. Sulfurapplication had a positive linear relationship with nitrogen concentration. Theresidual availability of boron also enhanced sulfur concentration in seed and stoverof succeeding mungbean; the increase was lower than the sulfur residual availabilityalthough higher than unfertilized control, analogous to the report by Sarker et al.(2002). The application of boron in the preceding sunflower crop had a markedresidual influence on boron concentration in the succeeding mungbean crop. Boronconcentration in seed was slightly higher than in stover. Nitrogen applicationthrough different sources did not bring about any significant change in the nutrientconcentration. A corresponding increase in boron concentration in succeedingmungbean was seen due to residual availability of boron.

Nutrient uptake by succeeding mungbean

Higher nutrient uptake by succeeding mungbean was noticed due to the residualavailability effects of various fertilizer treatments applied to the preceding sunflowercrop (Table 3). The uptake was higher with stover because stover yield was muchhigher due to poor harvest index in pulses. Roots are the medium for nutrientabsorption and translocation to above-ground parts. Nitrogen availability influ-enced nitrogen uptake by the plant through the uptake rate per unit root weight, thusthe different amounts of nitrogen taken up are affected by plant root growth

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Table 2. Residual effects of nitrogen sources, sulfur and boron levels on nutrientconcentrations in mungbean crop in sunflower–mungbean cropping system (pooled overtwo years).

N concentration(%)

S concentration(%)

B concentration(mg kg71)

Treatments Seed Stover Seed Stover Seed Stover

Nitrogen sources (80 kg ha71)PU 3.34 2.12 0.26 0.19 26.13 24.05CAN 3.44 2.22 0.27 0.21 26.64 24.75CD (p ¼ 0.05) NS 0.06 NS NS NS NS

Sulfur levels (kg ha71)0 3.25 2.01 0.23 0.16 24.68 21.9025 3.31 2.16 0.26 0.19 26.43 23.0950 3.41 2.32 0.29 0.23 27.99 25.22CD (p ¼ 0.05) 0.08 NS NS 0.05 1.10 1.75

Boron levels (kg ha71)0 3.13 2.03 0.24 0.17 24.55 22.820.75 3.32 2.19 0.27 0.20 26.61 24.221.50 3.42 2.28 0.28 0.23 27.95 26.15CD (p ¼ 0.05) 0.08 NS NS NS 1.1 1.75

Absolute control 2.59 1.78 0.19 0.13 23.22 21.16Rest 3.29 2.16 0.26 0.19 26.37 24.4CD (p ¼ 0.05) 0.12 0.11 NS NS 1.24 2.11

Note: CD, critical difference; PU, prilled urea; CAN, calcium ammonium nitrate; NS, non-significant.

Table 3. Residual effects of nitrogen sources, sulfur and boron levels on total nutrient uptakeby mungbean crop in sunflower–mungbean cropping system (pooled over two years).

N uptake (kg ha71) S uptake (kg ha71) B uptake (g ha71)

Treatments Seed Straw Total Seed Straw Total Seed Straw Total

Nitrogen sources (80 kg ha71)PU 27.52 85.92 113.71 2.23 7.53 9.75 22.35 94.31 116.66CAN 30.29 92.97 122.95 2.49 8.62 11.11 24.42 100.60 125.01CD (p ¼ 0.05) NS 3.33 4.66 NS NS NS NS NS NS

Sulfur levels (kg ha71)0 25.11 80.35 105.61 1.86 6.32 8.18 20.09 88.21 107.9625 28.87 87.89 116.74 2.35 7.85 10.20 23.63 94.66 117.9150 32.74 100.10 132.70 2.86 10.06 12.92 26.44 109.51 136.61CD (p ¼ 0.05) 3.76 5.67 8.38 0.65 0.96 1.06 3.68 11.13 9.61

Boron levels (kg ha71)0 25.73 81.18 107.14 1.98 6.54 8.52 20.30 88.20 108.490.75 29.62 89.95 119.14 2.42 7.94 10.35 23.78 96.12 119.901.50 31.24 97.21 128.80 2.66 9.75 12.41 26.08 108.04 134.11CD (p ¼ 0.05) 3.76 5.67 8.38 0.65 0.96 1.06 3.68 11.13 9.61

Absolute control 18.98 74.59 89.90 1.49 5.37 7.09 17.71 87.60 105.32Rest 28.90 89.44 118.33 2.35 8.07 10.43 23.38 97.45 120.74CD (p ¼ 0.05) 4.42 7.37 14.05 0.68 1.25 1.39 2.52 7.12 9.92

Note: CD, critical difference; PU, prilled urea; CAN, calcium ammonium nitrate; NS, non-significant.

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(Hirose 1984). Nitrogen application increased the nutrient absorption ability of theroot system by increasing the amount of NO3

7 in the cell sap within the roots(Cathcart et al. 2004). Nitrogen application also helps in the uptake of othernutrients by plants. Enhanced root growth due to nitrogen fertilization might resultin better rhizosphere exploration, enhanced growth and keep the pace of nutrientuptake high. Nitrogen application had a synergistic effect on the uptake of P, K, Zn,Cu and Fe. Nitrogen and sulfur also increased each other’s recovery from thefertilizer source by the crop, resulting in higher fertilizer use efficiency (Biswas et al.1995; Kumar and Reddy 1997). Moderate nitrogen application as a starterfertilization for legumes resulted in increased total nitrogen accumulation in thecomponent parts of the plant, nitrogenase activity, nodulation, total dry matterproduction and seed yield (Motior et al. 1998). The application of sulfur increasedthe concentration as well as total uptake of N, P, K, Ca, S, Zn and B at differentstages of crop growth (Sreemannarayan and Srinivasa 1993; Vasudevan et al. 1997;Agrawal et al. 2000).

Sulfur uptake was higher in stover than in seed of succeeding mungbean. Sulfurapplication significantly (p 5 0.05) influenced the uptake of nitrogen and boron,whereas the nitrogen uptake increment was more at 50 kg sulfur ha71. The ratio ofsulfur uptake from native to applied source indicated preferential absorption of soilsulfur at all levels of applied sulfur. The nitrogen source did not have any significantdifference, but an ample residual impact of sulfur application was observed. Theinteraction between nitrogen and sulfur is synergistic, because these two nutrientsincrease the concentration and uptake of each other in the plant. The residualavailability of boron also had a significant difference, but the sulfur uptakeincrement was lower than that of boron. Boron affects membrane integrity; itsdeficiency impairs membrane function, resulting in a build up of auxins, phenols andRNase activity. This inhibits the ability of the membrane to transport nutrients andmetabolites. Hence, boron supply increases the uptake and reutilization of N, P, K,Na, Ca and other minerals (Cakmak et al. 1995; Lefebre et al. 2002). Addition ofboron surrounding the root cell also causes a hyperpolarization of root cellmembranes, which enhances the uptake of trace elements like Zn, Mn and Fe (Sfredoand Sarruge 1990).

The concentration of boron was slightly higher in seed than in stover. Becauseboron helps in cell wall formation; it is trapped in the vegetative tissues as well. Sincethe concentration was very high in stover, total uptake was also higher. Like theconcentration, the uptake of boron was not influenced by the nitrogen source. PUand CAN were equally effective in enhancing boron uptake by seed and stover. Asignificant increase in boron uptake by succeeding mungbean was seen due to theapplication of sulfur in sunflower. Sulfur application at the rate of 25 kg ha71 had agood effect on B uptake, and uptake further increased due to 50 kg sulfur ha71.Boron application had a linear positive residual effect on boron uptake. The uptakeof boron at different doses of sulfur and boron by different components wassignificantly (p 5 0.05) superior to unfertilized control.

Residual soil fertility after sunflower and mungbean

Because fertilizer applied to one crop exhibits residual effects on the succeeding crop,the available nitrogen, sulfur and boron in the soil after mungbean were also higherwhere these were applied to the preceding sunflower (Table 4). The available nitrogen

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Table4.

Residualeff

ectsofnitrogen

sources,sulfurandboronlevelsonsoilnutrientstatusafter

sunflower

andsucceedingmungbeancropin

sunflower–

mungbeancroppingsystem

(pooledover

twoyears).

After

sunflower

After

succeedingmungbean

Treatm

ents

Available

N(kgha7

1)

Available

S(kgha7

1)

Available

B(m

gkg7

1soil)

Available

N(kgha7

1)

Available

S(kgha71)

Available

B(m

gkg7

1soil)

Nitrogen

sources

(80kgha7

1)

PU

168.63

37.87

1.38

149.19

26.54

1.69

CAN

171.05

38.04

1.42

152.94

27.86

1.73

CD

(p¼

0.05)

3.02

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

Sulfurlevels(kgha7

1)

0166.27

34.87

1.32

144.78

24.75

1.60

25

170.85

37.80

1.44

151.11

30.33

1.73

50

173.07

41.16

1.49

157.31

32.84

1.81

CD

(p¼

0.05)

4.64

2.35

0.06

6.58

5.29

0.16

Boronlevels(kgha7

1)

0167.73

36.74

1.24

145.86

24.17

1.52

0.75

170.25

37.97

1.38

151.50

25.66

1.68

1.50

171.99

39.17

1.62

155.74

27.24

1.96

CD

(p¼

0.05)

NS

1.02

0.11

6.58

5.29

0.16

Absolute

control

151.57

33.66

1.16

138.39

21.42

1.31

Rest

169.98

38.30

1.41

151.06

25.69

1.71

CD

(p¼

0.05)

8.64

2.25

0.14

10.09

2.74

0.20

Note:CD,criticaldifference;PU,prilled

urea;CAN,calcium

ammonium

nitrate;NS,non-significant.

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left after mungbean was higher than the calculated difference between the availablenutrients after sunflower and the nutrient uptake by mungbean because of symbioticbiological N2-fixation by the crop. Nitrogen, sulfur and boron are required forsymbiotic biological N2-fixation and hence improved the residual nitrogen in the soilwhere these were applied. Sulfur and boron increase the number of nodules, and hencesymbiotic N2-fixation (Kushwaha 1999). The behaviour of boron was different in thesoil–plant system because it is more or less fixed in the soil. After application of boronin the sunflower, most was fixed and released slowly. Boron does not go oxidation–reduction or volatilization reactions in the soil. The most important factors, whichaffect the status of soil boron, are soil reaction, soil texture, soluble salt concentration,organic matter, exchangeable cations, free CaCO3 and soil moisture (Goldberg 1997).Therefore, even after the mungbean crop, available boron increased.

Conclusions

The residual effects of nutrients applied in the sunflower crop were significant in thesucceeding mungbean crop in terms of yield attributing characters, seed and stoveryields. The concentrations and uptake of nitrogen, sulfur and boron were also higherin the succeeding mungbean crop due to the residual effects of nutrients applied tothe previous sunflower crop. Application of 80 kg nitrogen ha71 through CAN50 kg sulfur ha71 and 1.5 kg boron ha71 was found to be optimum for maximumgrowth, productivity and residual nutrient status for a sunflower–mungbeancropping system.

Acknowledgements

The first author greatly acknowledges the financial assistance received in the form of SeniorResearch Fellowship from the Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi,during her Doctor of Philosophy degree programme. Thanks are also due to the Head ofDivision of Agronomy for providing the necessary field and laboratory facilities during thecourse of the investigation.

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