Abstract
The response of rice toAzolla caroliniana, newly introduced in India, was compared with the reponse to the local isolate ofAzolla pinnata at varying rates of phosphate fertilizer (4.4–8.8 kg P ha−1) during a wet and a dry season.
Fresh weight, dry weight and fixed N were more for both species 21 DAI (days after inoculation) than 14 DAI, but acetylene reduction activity (ARA) was higher 14 DAI than 21 DAI. Dry weight of Azolla and fixed N were less 14 DAI forA. caroliniana than forA. pinnata during the wet season. Twenty-one DAI, fresh weight ofA. caroliniana was 62.1 and 27.6% higher than that ofA. pinnata during the wet and dry season, respectively. However, dry weight and fixed N were more 21 DAI inA. caroliniana than inA. pinnata during only the wet season. The ARA was higher inA. caroliniana both 14 and 21 DAI, irrespective of season. The presence of either species in the rice field increased grain yield, straw yield, number of panicles m−2, number of grains per panicle and reduced percentage sterility during both the wet and the dry season. Phosphate application significantly increased fresh weight, dry weight, ARA and fixed N for both species as well as grain and straw yields of rice. The responses to phosphate fertilizer were similar for both Azolla species and for rice grown with either one of the Azolla species.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dao T T and Tran Q T 1979 Use of Azolla in rice production in Vietnam.In Nitrogen and Rice. IRRI, Manila, Philippines. pp 395–405.
Jackson M L 1967 Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.
Liu C C 1979 Use of Azolla in rice production in China.In Nitrogen and Rice. IRRI, Manila, Philippines, pp. 375–394.
Lumpkin T A and Plucknett D L 1980 Azolla: Botany, physiology and use as a green manure. Econ. Bot. 34, 111–153.
Peters G A, Calvert H E, Kaplan D, Ito O and Toia R E Jr 1982 The Azolla — Anabaena symbiosis: Morphology, physiology and use. Isr. J. Bot. 31, 305–323.
Rains D W and Talley S N 1979 Use of Azolla in rice production in Noth America.In Nitrogen and Rice. IRRI, Manila, Philippines, pp 419–423.
Schollhorn R and Burris R H 1967 Acetylene as a competitive inhibitor of N2-fixation. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 58, 213–216.
Singh D P and Singh P K 1986 Relative effects ofAzolla pinnata and its combination with chemical nitrogen fertilizer on growth, yield and N uptake of rice. J. Agric. Sci. Camb. 106, 107–112.
Singh D P and Singh P K 1987a Effect of varying periods of inoculation ofAzolla pinnata R. Brown on its growth, nitrogen fixation and response to rice crop. Plant and Soil 98, 257–264.
Singh D P and Singh P K 1988 Phosphorus and carbofuran effects on growth, nitrogen fixation ofAzolla pinnata and yield of rice. Expl. Agric. 24, 183–189.
Singh P K 1979 Use of Azolla in rice production in India.In Nitrogen and Rice. IRRI, Manila, Philippines. pp 407–418.
Singh P K and Singh A L 1985 Comparative studies on Azolla and blue-green algal biofertilization to rice crop.In Advances in Applied Phycology. Eds. A C Shukla and S. N. Pandey. pp 344–349. Int. Soc. Plant and Envirn., Kanpur, India.
Singh P K and Singh R P 1987b Comparative studies on growth and nitrogenase activity of water fern Azolla germplasm collections. Curr. Sci. 56, 790–794.
Singh P K, Satapathy K B, Misra S P, Nayak S K and Patra R N 1982 Application of Azolla in rice cultivation.In Biological Nitrogen Fixation. Bhabha Atomic Res. Cent., Trombay, India. pp. 423–450.
Watanabe I 1982 Azolla—Anabaena symbiosis—Its physiology and use in tropical agriculture.In Microbiology of Tropical Soils and Plant Productivity. Eds. Y R Dommergues and H G Diem. pp 169–185. Martinus Nijhoff/Dr. W Junk Publishers, Dordrecht.
Watanabe I, Berja N S and Rosario D C 1980 Growth of Azolla in paddy fields as affected by phosphorus fertilizer. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. 26, 301–307.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, D.P., Singh, P.K. The response of rice to the growth and nitrogen fixation inAzolla caroliniana andAzolla pinnata at varying rates of phosphate fertilization. Plant Soil 114, 205–209 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220799
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220799