Twenty-three provenances of Gliricidia sepium and eleven isolines of Leucaena leucocephala were examined at a low and at high phosphate levels (20 and 80 mg P kg-1 soil) for growth, phosphate (P) uptake and use efficiency. Large differences in growth at the low P level, and in growth response to the higher P rate occurred among L. leucocephala isolines and G. sepium provenances. Shoot dry weight atlow P varied from 1.30 to 3.01 g plant-1 for L. leucocephala and from 1.44 to 3.07 g plant-1 for G Sepium. Leucaena isolines had only half the root weight of G. sepium provenances yet produced approximately 90% of the shoot weight of the corresponding G. sepium treatments, i.e. more than 2-fold difference in root/shoot ratios. Total P in shoots of G. sepium was some 85% greater than of the respective L. leucocephala isolines in corresponding treatments. Physiological phosphate use efficiency (g shoot/mg P in shoots) (PPUE) was not a simple reciprocal relation, being markedly lower at higher shoot % P and content. However, for the same shoot P both species produced the same shoot weight. Nevertheless, there were apparent genotypic differences within species in the root development, shoot P and PPUE In another study, the numbers of rhizobia in the rhizosphere of L. leucocephala nodulation, N2 fixation at five different levels of P were determined. The numbers of rhizobia in the rhizosphere of inoculated L. leucocephala during the first two weeks were lower when P was added but later became similar to those without added P. Nodules formed earlier than inoculated plants fertilized with P and in greater numbers (4- to 5-fold) and dry weights than in those without P. However, the percentage of N2 derived from fixation did not change with increasing levels of P application. These results suggest that the observed P effect did not operate via stimulated growth of rhizobia in the rhizosphere, nor through increased N2 fixation rate. The major effect appeared to be due to effects via plant growth

Plant Health; Plant Production

Rhizobiaceae; Rhizosphere; Plants; Growth

Africa; West Africa

Nigeria