Department of Plant Physiology, Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003
Field experiments were conducted on acid laterite soils using green gram as a test crop to assess the relative benefits of inoculation, N-application and Mo seed treatment. The soil had a low Mo status and N-fertility. Nodules on Mo treated plants were larger in size, more in number and contained higher amounts of Mo. The N-concentration in the leaves far exceeded the concentration in other plant parts. The reserve-pool in the leaves contained more of protein-N in Mo treated plants and accounted for 30% of the mobilised N to the pods. The NR activity in the leaves of such plants was also higher. Mo application alone resulted in 26.4% increase in yield in the inoculated plants equalling 25 kg/ha of nitrogen fertilization. Increases in yield resulted from greater number of pods/plant than the other yield attributes. Neither exogenous N-supply nor endogenous enhancement of symbiosis affected seed quality, a highly heritable trait.
